Monday Blues - What did you play? [Archive]

Purple Santa

12-15-2008, 03:44 AM

Ah, the weekend. Gone once again. Let the yearning for the next now begin. Let's not mince words, so how was your gaming weekend? Hopefully filled with lot's of game playing in between the responsibilities that are required of us. Some were writing papers or studying for finals. Others flocked to the stores before the Christmas rush. Mine was spent fighting dust bunnies, finding floors and furniture filled with clothes, paper and other various items that accumulated over the last month as I ignored everything for the end semester crush. Also went out and bought our Xmas tree, watching our cats combat the various ornaments for their new play toys. Somewhere within the weekend I did some gaming. The list begins:

Gears of War 2- Met up with the unruly bunch from the west coast and one Australian (Rini, Disgustipated and Kojac) who took me in to play some GoW online. I had a blast, tryiing to be taught to how to play GoW. Unfortunately that didn't work out to well. I died quickly and often but when amongst CoG friends it's a lot of fun. And funny. I don't think i've laughed so hard in a while. Easily the best part of the gaming weekend. I need to do more gaming online with CoGer's.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts- Had some fun with this game although it's a lot more complicated than I though it was going to be. I tried building a vehicle and failed miserably. I'm not feeling the pick up and play of the originals. I even picked up a gaming guide, which I rarely do, and that made it even more complicated. What I did play was tons of fun. I just need to work out the vehicles and the much larger feeling to the new BK world.

Left4Dead- For a game that I originally had no interest in due to it's heavy emphasis on online component, I'm glad I was convinced to play this. I lived through the first "movie" which was a total blast. First, the game looks gorgeous. I hadn't seen much on this game, and the opening blew me away. From there, was just pure fun for an hour. For all the talk about games needing to be longer, this was one intense gaming hour. When I replayed it again, I had a totally different experience, since I was the sole non-survivor. I loved the ending credits on that one. Valve, I must say...you have a sense of humor. This game for the "short" single player alone is worth the price of the game. I can't wait to play with others with this game.

Prince of Persia- I was looking for something a bit laid back so I gave this a try. The game is gorgeous looking, the prince cracks one liners and it's a very forgiving game with your partner saving you from various deaths. The game is so not complex with the button layout I tried to do to much. Coming off of playing a title like Mirror's Edge where it's all about the button pushing timing, to this simpler and easier to play game took some adjustment. I think each game has it's unique style of play and they fit for each of them. I don't think I want to see ME with a PoP style of button pushing ease however it would be nice if the moves were easier to pull off like in PoP. The game does seem it was made for a more mainstream audience. That doesn't kill the fun for me though. I can appreciate the game for what it achieves to do. An easy pick up, immerse yourself in the game and enjoy being the Prince.

Mirror's Edge- I finally gave up on this title for now. I put it back in it's Gamefly envelope, sealed so it can go back to torture someone else. Old school gaming can be fun, when it's fun. But if I want that trial and error I'd like a save anywhere feature. Don't punish me when i'm trying to figure out another wall jump. I just couldn't find the fun in the title anymore.

Persona 3:FES- And now for the my latest attempt at gaming crack. I'm a new comer to the Persona love fest. I am wondering what took me so long. I love the ovetop plot which reminds me of .Hack and TWEWY. I'm not sure what it is with japanese developers and strange plots but I can't get enough of it. And those who played it saying it's a long game well they aren't kidding. I was playing an hour of game time before I even went to the first "dungeon". That hour was getting me acclimated to the story. And damn am I hooked.

So what did you PLAY?

Skull3r

12-15-2008, 03:55 AM

Purple Santa

12-15-2008, 04:14 AM

Last week of Finals, so not much gaming here.

Fable 2 - I played this for a couple hours, until I forgot to save, and turned my system off. That sucked. I went from owning all of Bowerstone to... well lets just say, I had the 360 running for quite some time. It's going to take awhile before I can approach that game again because of how much I lost.

Little Big Planet - Finally opened up this title. Actually, technically, my gf tore open the plastic. I love this game, a simple platformer. Most of all, I love the fact that it's a game that we both enjoy and play together. She's not much of a "hardcore gamer", although she wants to try shooters so that she can play "my sorta" games. I think the next gaming step for her would be rpg's. Any ideas on other co-op games that you think we'd enjoy? The semester's about to end, so we're going to be separated for five or so weeks, but I think we're going to start Kameo when we get back for next semester.

WoW: WotLK - Well, technically, I didn't play this. I'm afraid to start playing before my last final (which is on Thursday). I have the copy though. It's staring at me right now.

Also, I'm looking for a good headset for the 360 (and would get major bonus points if I can somehow connect it to a PS3 as well). Price Range is debatable (I'm willing to spend a lot if I get a lot <-- ... been eyeing the Astrogaming headset and the Turtle Beach headsets)
Ouch to Fable 2. I've done that in the past with games. Usually I traumatize myself so badly I don't go back to the game.

That's really cool your GF wants to play some of the games you like to play. ADD when I met her was a gamer but not games I would like. Eventually she was open to play or at least try some of my "odd" tastes. If you are looking for a current game to play co-op, Left4Dead. If you play just with you and GF with the other two play as the bots, leaving it on easy, it should be a good tutorial on to experience co-op. The bots will keep it manageable, which is why i'm suggesting L4D.

If you are looking for headsets, try Tritton Axpro. I have been in the market for a headsets for quite awhile. I read all the theads here and over at EvAv. I read readers comments on the various sites but no matter how good the headset was sounding, there was always some "flaw" in them that made me leery. A few of the headsets many stated having a hissing sound or other noise. I just stayed away until I found the Tritton. They are pricey, but they are the best gaming accessory I've ever bought. I can't say enough how much this headset makes my gaming experience now. The sound is incredible, there is no hissing and it works for the 360 PS3 and the PC. It's worth the cash. You owe it to yourself to get a pair if you are really looking for a headset. I bought mine at Newegg where I got a decent deal on them.

Edit: Here (http://reviews.cnet.com/headsets/tritton-ax-pro-5/4505-13831_7-33387515.html) is a recent review of the headset

DangerousDaze

12-15-2008, 04:17 AM

DarkSector on PS3 and I took the advice of a number of people on CoG and bought Advent Rising on Steam. Both are good games so far!

Sonic Alpha

12-15-2008, 04:19 AM

I played a little bit of Red Alert 3, and CoD 4 on the 360. Though most of my time was spent getting to (and completing) wave 50 on Horde mode for Gears of War 2.

KamaItachi

12-15-2008, 04:23 AM

Evil Avnovice

12-15-2008, 04:23 AM

A bunch of Wii/DS games that I like using to alienate those around me.

If it's possible this week as well, I'll try and plug in some Ridge Racers 2 and Ikuze! Gen-San: Yuuyake Daiku Monogatari.

Or, someone probably wanted the short version of: Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom and Taiko no Tatsujin.

frederec

12-15-2008, 04:28 AM

Pretty much what I'd hoped. Spent most of the weekend writing finals (looking forward to next year when the fall schedule won't be screwed up and by this time we'd already be done). When I wasn't doing that, played Chrono Trigger and Persona 4. Really wish I could just ignore everything else and play Persona 4, but adult responsibilities get in the way.

Gorvi

12-15-2008, 04:53 AM

A shitload of Valkyria Chronicles. Well, at least what qualifies for me for that these days, so around 7 hours worth all weekend. I started kinda slow on it but that game has it's hooks in me deep now. I'm on the second battle in Chapter 10, which if the cutscenes leading up to it are any indication, should be very interesting.

I also got in a little bit of time with WipEout HD, Everyday Shooter, and echochrome, I really need to remember that these downloadable games are actually there more often.

Kielaran

12-15-2008, 04:57 AM

Left 4 Dead - stomping pubbies with a CoG group
The Darkness - just got my 3rd power and I'm loving it. I would have crushed this game already if people didn't want to play so much multiplayer in other games
Age of Booty - got the demo and played with some Coggers. IDK if I want to buy it yet, but if we had another group together then I know I would
Far Cry 2 - MP with a bunch of Coggers (what a suprise :p). The MP is a lot of fun and with a group of 5 of us we were able to dominate most of the night. My only real gripe was that you can't join games as a group, so we had to coordinate finding games through the Party Chat, but everything worked without a hitch, so no harm no foul.

menage

12-15-2008, 05:06 AM

1 hour of Odin Sphere (I really need to give that some more time) and cleared a dungeon in Zelda on the DS.

Spigot

12-15-2008, 05:33 AM

Persona 3:FES- And now for the my latest attempt at gaming crack. I'm a new comer to the Persona love fest. I am wondering what took me so long. I love the ovetop plot which reminds me of .Hack and TWEWY. I'm not sure what it is with japanese developers and strange plots but I can't get enough of it. And those who played it saying it's a long game well they aren't kidding. I was playing an hour of game time before I even went to the first "dungeon". That hour was getting me acclimated to the story. And damn am I hooked. Just you wait, my friend. The game just keeps getting better and better. Persona 4 is even better in that it ticks off the checkboxes (social links, combat, etc) a little faster... though I just realized that I'm 7 hours into P4 and am only now working on my first true push through the first dungeon. Yeek!

Ok. Here's what I played:

Chrono Trigger DS - I just got the Masamune fixed and got Frog back in my party and we're on our way to try to take out Magus. Oh, the memories. I love this game so.

Persona 4 - I wanted to play more of this but between work and my sick wife and kids, it kept getting pushed to the back burner. When I'd finally fire it up around 10:30-11pm, I'd start to play and promptly find myself passed out on the couch. I need to start playing at a respectable time! That said, I adore the game.

Prince Of Persia - When I did have some free time earlier in the evening, I found myself working on this gem. Oh, how I do so love this game. Purple Santa is right. It isn't incredibly difficult or complex but by god, is it ever fun. After the last couple of hair-pullingly annoying games that I've been working on, having something as simple yet rewarding as Prince Of Persia is so nice... I have taken down two of the bosses now and am working towards getting my final power. Next on the chopping block - The Concubine!

And I finally got my gnome mage up to level 68 in WoW so I could get my scrawny ass out of Outland and up to Northrend. Woo!

There was also a LOT of Polar Express watched at Casa Del Spig this weekend. My kid has it on a permanent loop right now, I think. Good flick though. I loved it in the theatre and I haven't seen it in a while. Speaking of which, we're off to a Christmas party today and maybe the man in red (or purple) himself will show up!

civil

12-15-2008, 05:34 AM

We're the motherfucking Tunnel Snakes!!!

Chris_D

12-15-2008, 06:10 AM

One hour of Tales of Vesperia. Well I've been working everyday and have a cold so :p.

Rakael

12-15-2008, 06:14 AM

We're the motherfucking Tunnel Snakes!!!

I loved shooting that guy in the face.

Narradisall

12-15-2008, 06:20 AM

Viva Pinata - Finally finished it (well as much as you can finish that game).
Oblivion - Finished achievement whoring.
Gears 2 - Multiplayer!
Mass Effect - Started a new game for some fun, got about halfway through.

Looking forward to xmas as I know I have some cool games waiting for me!

Ten19

12-15-2008, 06:27 AM

Lost Odyssey: As with most JRPG-esque games, I tend to play them in spurts, but I finally got into a productive rhythm and played from the middle of Disc 2 to the beginning of Disc 4. Still a fantastic title, and I can't wait to see how things play out. After I finish this, I'll be tackling Blue Dragon finally. Look out library of half-finished games!

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition: Picked this up cheap and gave it a whirl. The combat really turned me off at first, but I'm slowly acclimating and starting to really enjoy the quests and polish. I still wish I could control every swing, but alas.

World of Somethingcraft: What? I don't know what this game is. How the hell did this get on here?

Kelegacy

12-15-2008, 06:29 AM

All I played this weekend (and beat) was Prince of Persia. It's not as short a game as I thought, since I didn't beat it in under 12 hours (and get the achievement for doing so). I wasn't rushing though. It's a good game, with some fun platforming, but most of it requires just a simple button press (nearly no controller useage.) It's a fun game, and sometimes exhilirating, but I'd be lying if I said the 6 times you have to face each of the 4 "bosses" isn't annoying. I think I have carpal tunnel from the frequent QTE mashing in battles, too. Ugh.

But the endgame/aftergame...whatever it's called? Great, but a bit peculiar. I like how it's done, with credits rolling while you're still able to play, but the story wrap-up is really...well, I'll wait for more people to beat it. I liked it, but I didn't. There was nothing confusing, just a bit stupid (literally), despite me liking it.

Despite a lot of fun, there was also a measure of detachment from the game like there was with Assassin's Creed. Mostly because the game plays itself a lot of the time, and requires just a few accurate button presses to platform a mile in-game. This is because the animations/actions for each button press (wallclimb, ring swing, wall run, etc) last 10x longer than the button press.

Anyway, a great and beautiful game, just not perfect (or close). And those QTEs...I'm still feeling the pain this morning from playing all weekend! Oh, and I don't think this should have been called PoP either. The guy isn't even a PRINCE (at least they don't say so in the game!). And is this even Persia? It could have been called nearly anything else and made more sense. It's like calling it Mario Galaxy but staring a rascally squirrel instead of Mario, and taking place in a winter wonderland instead of outer space.

evilgoodwin

12-15-2008, 06:31 AM

Did more gaming this weekend than I have in a while.

Orange Box for 360: Blew through Portal, and went back to try to get all the cameras. I missed 3. Will probably try again sometime this weekend. Played some HL2 but had to quit early in to go to a party.

I also got a Wii again (mine was stolen after lending it to a friend while I went out of town. No more lendings ever again ><) so I messed with it anew. Unfortunately, all of my Wii games are with another friend (Guess I don't learn. Ever.) so I was left to some Gamecubie goodness.

I popped in the Zelda Collecter's Disk which is basically Zelda I, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask on the same disk. And a demo for Wind-Waker. Forget how I got it, but oh well.

The Legend of Zelda: Played until 5th dungeon where I ran out of bombs and had to go buy more, and then got killed by blue knights before I could get the whistle, so I quit in a fit of rage. And noticed that my friend ALSO had my memory card, so I had to go find a used one somewhere in town.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link: Played through first dungeon, kept jumping into lava in the 2nd one. Quit in rage.

Played with Wii Shopping Channel again. Bought "Ys Book I & II" and "Secret of Mana"

Y's: Spent an hour levelling and bought everything in the shops. Got to mine and wasn't paying attention. Got killed by a worm. I'd saved beforehand, though, so no worries.

Secret of Mana: Was having fun just going through again, and then I got killed by a fucking flower because I didn't want to take Cannon Travel to the Water Palace because I think goblins will kidnap me and I can recruit the girl before going through Gaia's Navel first. Oh, but I digress. I got killed by a fucking flower right next to the sign to Neko's. And I had to start over. I'll try again tomorrow.

World of Warcraft Got to level 80 and finished up Storm Peaks and Sholazar Basin. Fun zones. Great Music in Storm Peaks. Then I ran Classic Stratholme solo to see if I could (no problems. Even did Baron in 45 minutes). Then I finished up my Doomguard quests. Then I stopped.

The scary part is, I had to hold off on buying more games all weekend. I SO wanted to get Castlevania on DS and Fallout 3 and many, many more. Urgh. I hate the holidays.

Edit: I DID end up buying Disgaea 3 because it was 20 bucks used at Gamefly. So I'll have that to mess with too.

Spigot

12-15-2008, 06:52 AM

Despite a lot of fun, there was also a measure of detachment from the game like there was with Assassin's Creed. Mostly because the game plays itself a lot of the time, and requires just a few accurate button presses to platform a mile in-game. This is because the animations/actions for each button press (wallclimb, ring swing, wall run, etc) last 10x longer than the button press.

Anyway, a great and beautiful game, just not perfect (or close). And those QTEs...I'm still feeling the pain this morning from playing all weekend! Oh, and I don't think this should have been called PoP either. The guy isn't even a PRINCE (at least they don't say so in the game!). And is this even Persia? It could have been called nearly anything else and made more sense. It's like calling it Mario Galaxy but staring a rascally squirrel instead of Mario, and taking place in a winter wonderland instead of outer space.
Ah, pish posh. I love the fact that I can just hit a button and let the Prince do his thing without me having to fiddle around and die 300 times. I'm not trying to blast through the game in a weekend though, so I think that might be why I'm enjoying it a little more than you seem to have. I will agree that the QTE boss fights can get a little old but that's why I just play it in chunks. I might do one or two fights a day, so it doesn't get to the point where I have to go in for surgery after I'm finished playing!

Now you have me interested in the ending. I just took down my second boss, so I have a little way to go, but I might start to push this higher in my gaming queue...

And while, yes, the Prince isn't really a prince and it's not technically Persia (though maybe it is... just some forgotten kingdom tucked away in the desert wastes), that's being far too nit-picky for my tastes. I think that the character of the Prince really captures that wit and sense of fun that the Prince from Sands Of Time had and the gameplay is probably the closest translation of the original Prince Of Persia. As good as Sands was, you have to think back to the original PoP and realize that you only ever really fought one, maybe two guards at a time and you didn't have some magical sand to undo your mistakes.

Now go out and get Persona 4.

rvieira

12-15-2008, 07:13 AM

Fallout 3 - Finally found the alien blaster and make through the deathclaw sanctuary without any problem, for some strange reason my partner (charon) thinks he can kill a deathclaw with his knife, I end up making him wait at cave entrance. Also finish the oasis quest.
Rockband 2 - I have made some progress on hard, breakneck speed help me a lot.
LBP - tried some user created levels and must say that ICO level is amazing and the MGS level even with only the first part of Shadow Moses(the level still in development) is probably one of the best user created level out there.

Commissar Rob

12-15-2008, 07:20 AM

Finally beat the "Replace the Dead Harddrive" boss on my XPS lappy. Took the whole bloody weekend between data recovery on the DOS Prompt (thought I'm proud to still be able to work with the DOS prompt...it's been eons since I was editing autoexec.bat files), installing Windows on the replacement drive, and trying to get everything back to where it was.

I lost a bunch of custom skins for Dawn of War (no more Black Templars for me... :( ), and I lost all my save games for Warcraft 3 (which pretty much guarantees I'll never beat the Mount Hyjal finale...c'est la guerre). BUT I did find my old disks for Knights of the Old Repulic 2 (which I started playing again) and Command and Conquer 3 (ditto).

Other than that, I spent a little time with Little Big Planet. Next week, I'm taking the week off, so I plan on gaming 'til my eyeballs bleed...

Skull3r

12-15-2008, 07:38 AM

If you are looking for headsets, try Tritton Axpro. I have been in the market for a headsets for quite awhile. I read all the theads here and over at EvAv. I read readers comments on the various sites but no matter how good the headset was sounding, there was always some "flaw" in them that made me leery. A few of the headsets many stated having a hissing sound or other noise. I just stayed away until I found the Tritton. They are pricey, but they are the best gaming accessory I've ever bought. I can't say enough how much this headset makes my gaming experience now. The sound is incredible, there is no hissing and it works for the 360 PS3 and the PC. It's worth the cash. You owe it to yourself to get a pair if you are really looking for a headset. I bought mine at Newegg where I got a decent deal on them.

Edit: Here (http://reviews.cnet.com/headsets/tritton-ax-pro-5/4505-13831_7-33387515.html) is a recent review of the headset

I was actually looking at these because at one time, I was fortunate enough to get a pair of the old trittons at a yard sale, and loved them until the day that my younger cousin decided to throw them against the wall :mad: :(.

I have a couple of questions about them though. Is it true that with the headset requiring power, and the little box requiring power as well, that there are two moderately large cords that I have to plug in? Also, the old trittons suffered from lack of bass (which they used rumble instead), as well as the inability to hear teammates in games because the voice chat and the game audio were in the same channel. Therefore, the only way to hear other teammates was to go into the game settings and turn down the volume. Does this headset suffer from the same problem?

Purple Santa

12-15-2008, 07:57 AM

I was actually looking at these because at one time, I was fortunate enough to get a pair of the old trittons at a yard sale, and loved them until the day that my younger cousin decided to throw them against the wall :mad: :(.

I have a couple of questions about them though. Is it true that with the headset requiring power, and the little box requiring power as well, that there are two moderately large cords that I have to plug in? Also, the old trittons suffered from lack of bass (which they used rumble instead), as well as the inability to hear teammates in games because the voice chat and the game audio were in the same channel. Therefore, the only way to hear other teammates was to go into the game settings and turn down the volume. Does this headset suffer from the same problem?
As the review in the link I left stated...the only real downer about the headset is the wires. Now, i am in a small living space (i'm in an attic) so to run wires to a plug is a pain. The review also mentions about set up and being difficult. It's not. I am the LEAST technological person on this board. I never knew how to get sound out of a montior let alone doing all that is required on the headset. That said...it was EASY. Great directions with very nice pictures. Believe me...the idiot I am...set up is easy. The wires, which was your concern...yes, you need the power for both. But it's worth it. I think because of the need for the power supply, it makes up for in a great sound. The link I put shows the set up or at least what all of the gear looks like. I haven't tried the chatting with others in a game yet. I am mostly for now using it for my PS3...and I haven't done any "chatting" gaming on there yet. I'll try to use it on my 360. I thought that problem was solved, but if you Google it, I am sure you will read others view on that part of the headphone. There are also other reviews on the headset.

Abednigo

12-15-2008, 07:59 AM

I played more Fallout 3. Did the Minefield part of the Wasteland Survival Guide. Found Dogmeat. He's a cool little companion. Then I continued with The Family quest and am in the entrance to the metro tunnels (where the two mirelurks are). They killed Dogmeat when I first got in there. Thankfully I saved before entering so I can try again and hopefully not lose my dog after just getting him. :)

I'm really enjoying this game.

Purple Santa

12-15-2008, 08:06 AM

Just you wait, my friend. The game just keeps getting better and better. Persona 4 is even better in that it ticks off the checkboxes (social links, combat, etc) a little faster... though I just realized that I'm 7 hours into P4 and am only now working on my first true push through the first dungeon. Yeek!

Ok. Here's what I played:

Prince Of Persia - When I did have some free time earlier in the evening, I found myself working on this gem. Oh, how I do so love this game. Purple Santa is right. It isn't incredibly difficult or complex but by god, is it ever fun. After the last couple of hair-pullingly annoying games that I've been working on, having something as simple yet rewarding as Prince Of Persia is so nice... I have taken down two of the bosses now and am working towards getting my final power. Next on the chopping block - The Concubine!

There was also a LOT of Polar Express watched at Casa Del Spig this weekend. My kid has it on a permanent loop right now, I think. Good flick though. I loved it in the theatre and I haven't seen it in a while. Speaking of which, we're off to a Christmas party today and maybe the man in red (or purple) himself will show up!

Well the lure of P3 is really bad. I planned on only playing when ADD was in need of a break watching me play games or she wanted to use the 360, since the PS3 is on my monitor. However, I now want to play it when I have the 360 free. So I might be ignoring everything else for this game.

I think it helps that after playing ME, we both tried PoP. They are so different in how they want you to play. One is old school trial and error while PoP is more gamer friendly wanting you to immerse yourself more in the game. Although it's easier, there is a purpose for that. I think they wish to keep the frustration factor low. I know we had a different view of ME than from Kelegacy. I think i'm going to be calling him the man with skillz now. If he can blow through ME like that and still want to play again...well bless him for that. But if i'm not playing P3, than it's back to PoP today. I need to get off of this laptop and go game...

rein

12-15-2008, 08:12 AM

I got bored yesterday and purchased WoTLK and I am now back to WoW. I had a lot of fun running throught the DK starting area. Pretty cool quest line.

Now it's back to the grind. :)

Bad Buddha

12-15-2008, 09:35 AM

hunterx280

12-15-2008, 09:52 AM

Didn't really do all that much this weekend. It was pretty lazy. Saturday the wife and I had a "How I Met Your Mother" season 1 marathon. Pretty good. Then Sunday I was lazy some more. I got in a little bit of Assassin's Creed but that's about it. Lots of napping happening this weekend.

Restlessavenger

12-15-2008, 10:07 AM

I went back to work on my PS3 backlog this weekend. Put Resistance 2 back in and I think I am only about 20 minutes from the end of that one. Then I moved on to play a bit of Echochrome and some Soldner X. Also got a bit of Mercenaries 2 in and finally settled in on Sunday evening to a bit of Uncharted which I believe I am also really close to the end of.

Tron

12-15-2008, 10:09 AM

I picked up Left 4 Dead on Friday and literally played it around the clock this weekend. Loving it...my favorite game of the year so far.

Zrikz

12-15-2008, 10:47 AM

I ended up playing hours of Fallout 3 all weekend. Have done nearly all of the side quests and have quite a few of the main quest left to finish up.

Managed to get quite a few named weapons and the T5-1B armor or whatever it is.

I caved and ended up buying Rockband 2 yesterday. Played for a good 4-5 hours with a friend. Managed to get up to medium drums so far.

I really want to fit in some EVE time, but I keep playing fallout or Guitar Hero, or now Rockband.. so in the mean time, I keep on a training my skills.

Kelegacy

12-15-2008, 11:21 AM

Ah, pish posh. I love the fact that I can just hit a button and let the Prince do his thing without me having to fiddle around and die 300 times. I'm not trying to blast through the game in a weekend though, so I think that might be why I'm enjoying it a little more than you seem to have. I will agree that the QTE boss fights can get a little old but that's why I just play it in chunks. I might do one or two fights a day, so it doesn't get to the point where I have to go in for surgery after I'm finished playing!

Now you have me interested in the ending. I just took down my second boss, so I have a little way to go, but I might start to push this higher in my gaming queue...

And while, yes, the Prince isn't really a prince and it's not technically Persia (though maybe it is... just some forgotten kingdom tucked away in the desert wastes), that's being far too nit-picky for my tastes. I think that the character of the Prince really captures that wit and sense of fun that the Prince from Sands Of Time had and the gameplay is probably the closest translation of the original Prince Of Persia. As good as Sands was, you have to think back to the original PoP and realize that you only ever really fought one, maybe two guards at a time and you didn't have some magical sand to undo your mistakes.

Now go out and get Persona 4.

I think the game is great, a pretty fun adventure, but except for a few puzzles in some of the levels, I thought the game got quite redundant. I beat it over the course of 4 days, and I didn't sit and speed rush through it (didn't have the opportunity to sit for more than 2-3 hours at a time). But had I bought it instead of rented it, I would have stopped playing after the second area (if that) that I had defeated. I probably would have set it aside and never beat it, but I wanted to get through it and send it back (and cancel Gamefly completely).

But sometimes I was really impressed with the title. Other times, a bit bored because of the same ol' same ol' due to the inescapable redundancy. Great presentation, but the gameplay just isn't a 10. I'd give the game a 8/10 overall, graphics and art direction a 9/10, sound an 8 or 9/10 (great music) and gameplay a 7/10. The gameplay is the worst part of the game, I think, other than the annoying prince (or whatever he is, since he's just a sarcastic thief). I would have liked him to be a bit more serious, but oh well. Elika is a wonderful character that I liked completely.

Wraith

12-15-2008, 11:28 AM

I played a little SimCity 4, and picked up Railroad Tycoon 3 on Saturday for ten bucks. (RT3 is by the same studio that did the first Tropico.)

JRR006

12-15-2008, 11:28 AM

Nothing. I was up until six finishing my term paper for my OE directed study and turned it in at ten... but I'm going to have a nap, catch the bus home, and then my PS3 and I are going to get reacquainted, oh yes.

Talon

12-15-2008, 11:33 AM

I played drive 13 hours from Chicago to Atlanta.

When I finally got home, I played an hour each about of Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge (Time Trials), and Gears of War 2 online.

By the way, I sent out a couple of friends requests to some of y'all, since I'll actually have access to Live for about a month (and I still haven't played Horde!). My GamerTag's OneTalon (http://live.xbox.com/en-GB/profile/profile.aspx?pp=0&GamerTag=OneTalon), so feel free to accept/send a request if you're feeling charitable. :D

Variable Gear

12-15-2008, 11:46 AM

I cleared Freezeezy Peak and Gobi's Valley in Banjo-Kazooie, which was nice. Coming up next is Mad Monster Mansion, which I don't have an perfect memory of. It might take me over an hour to clear that world. We'll see.

Played a bit of Halo 3 on Friday, as well as a bunch of other games throughout the weekend, including: SSBM (I'm really rusty...maybe it's all that Brawl I've been playing), Braid (I have no idea how to get 50% of the puzzle pieces in this game.) Wario Ware: Twisted (Also known as, the best single-player offering in the series.), Crackdown (Working on the time trials....), and some Lumines Live to cool off on Sunday night.

Spigot

12-15-2008, 11:47 AM

By the way, I sent out a couple of friends requests to some of y'all, since I'll actually have access to Live for about a month (and I still haven't played Horde!). My GamerTag's OneTalon (http://live.xbox.com/en-GB/profile/profile.aspx?pp=0&GamerTag=OneTalon), so feel free to accept/send a request if you're feeling charitable. :D

Wait, weren't you x Talen x? Who the heck is that then?

Time to go back and scrub my friends list AGAIN.

Lint of Death

12-15-2008, 12:51 PM

D&D 3.5 as expected, L4D as expected, a tiny bit of Jade Empire ... wait, what?

LarsenNET

12-15-2008, 12:56 PM

Started Mass Effect on Thursday and finished it Friday. 16.5 hours of play time, I liked the story but the game play was just ok. I didn't feel like doing any of the side quests I just wanted to see the end.

Now I'm going to start Zelda: The Twilight Princess.

Chris_D

12-15-2008, 12:56 PM

D&D 3.5 as expected, L4D as expected, a tiny bit of Jade Empire ... wait, what?

I enjoyed the heck out of Jade Empire when I completed it twice back in the day :p. A somewhat overmaligned game.

itchyeyes

12-15-2008, 01:06 PM

I played loads of Dead Space, and I'm really loving it. It could be my game of the year. It's quite a bit longer than I expected. When it launched a lot of people said it was around an 8 hour game, but I'm at hour nine and still have 3-1/2 chapters to go.

zarathstra

12-15-2008, 01:13 PM

Well, I did the wedding thing. I never had to resort to my DS. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

I did play a shit ton of Super Mario galaxy on Sunday though. Holy crap that game is good.

Ondo

12-15-2008, 01:23 PM

I finished getting all the jiggies in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - fun game, but it has essentially nothing to do with the prior titles. The ability to watch a replay of the top players on the leaderboard generally mean no challenge is too frustrating - except one, but you can get all the jiggies without getting a trophy on one of the challenges, fortunately. I still need to try the multiplayer.

Also played some Rock Band 2 - always a good time, but I'm still pissed off at Harmonix for the bug that killed my save.

LongStepMantis

12-15-2008, 01:27 PM

I played "Study for your exams so you don't waste a semester's worth of time and money for nothing: 2"

Spigot

12-15-2008, 01:32 PM

I enjoyed the heck out of Jade Empire when I completed it twice back in the day :p. A somewhat overmaligned game.Yeah. I still wonder what game everyone else must have been playing given the amount of vitriol spewed over Jade Empire. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It wasn't the pinnacle of RPGs or anything, but it was a rock-solid game from start to finish.

zarathstra

12-15-2008, 01:42 PM

I played "Study for your exams so you don't waste a semester's worth of time and money for nothing: 2"

I heard that game is really tough, but the ending is totally worth it.

LongStepMantis

12-15-2008, 01:45 PM

I heard that game is really tough, but the ending is totally worth it.

It better be. Most other games don't cost me tens of thousands of dollars.
You should get a gold-plated blowjob for finishing it...and I can't even begin to describe how that would work.

zarathstra

12-15-2008, 02:08 PM

It better be. Most other games don't cost me tens of thousands of dollars.
You should get a gold-plated blowjob for finishing it...and I can't even begin to describe how that would work.

That sounds really painful actually.

rinichanraar

12-15-2008, 02:28 PM

It was a busy weekend. Now that I think about it, I didn't play games all that much. I mostly watched my boyfriend finish MGS4. Dear GOD, that was a lot of cutscenes at the end. I mean, there were a lot of cutscenes throughout the game, no doubt... but the end? It just kept going and going. It felt like there was a full-length movie attached to the end of the game. :p

Anyway, I'm not complaining, really. I'm just surprised that I was surprised by how long the end was.

I also hesitantly downloaded Playstation Home. Goddamn, my avatar looks nothing like me. There are a ton of customization options, but I apparently have no idea what I look like. I think some guy called my avatar ugly (there was truth in that, so I wasn't very offended), and I think some other guys tried to talk to it, but I left as soon as possible because walking around with all those people made me feel really uncomfortable.

Aside from that, I played a little bit of Gears 2 (as Santa mentions here).

Gears of War 2- Met up with the unruly bunch from the west coast and one Australian (Rini, Disgustipated and Kojac) who took me in to play some GoW online. I had a blast, tryiing to be taught to how to play GoW. Unfortunately that didn't work out to well. I died quickly and often but when amongst CoG friends it's a lot of fun. And funny. I don't think i've laughed so hard in a while. Easily the best part of the gaming weekend. I need to do more gaming online with CoGer's.

Gears 2 is a lot of fun when you play with the right people. How much fun I have with Horde mode is pretty dependent on the people with whom I play. I find that I love playing with people who talk and laugh a lot. I also think that the teamwork level is raised when the group sticks to a small area. It's easier to help one another when you stay together and don't go off wandering to different places all the time. You can also catch funny things happening to other people in your screen. For some reason, crawling is hilarious. :p

By the way, the last person on our team was my boyfriend, Joey. We live together, so we always do splitscreen. If you play games with me more, you'll probably see him around a lot. :)

Spigot

12-15-2008, 02:34 PM

I was trying to get into the Home beta last week when it showed up on my PS3. I keep logging on and then it says that the servers don't exist.

From the lackluster impressions I've heard of Home and the fact that I can't think of any reason why I'd want to use it, I'm not that sad.

Oh, by the way, Persona 4 is awesome. I finally got a chance to sink some time into it this afternoon (hey, I'm off... let's pretend it's still my weekend) and it's a much better game when you're not falling asleep from exhaustion.

Unfortunately, for all the things they fixed from P3, they also did away with a few of the little tricks I used to extend my jaunts in the dungeons. Oh well.

Purple Santa

12-15-2008, 02:47 PM

Lots of The Witcher. I keep cranking through the quests, but more keep popping up! This game seems to go on forever! ...which considering the quality, story and gameplay, isn't such a bad thing! :D I think I might finish Chapter 3 this week.

I just Christmas wrapped Fallout 3 for myself last night! Sweet! ;)
I bought myself the Tritton Axpro headset for Xmas but I am using them early :)

By the way, I sent out a couple of friends requests to some of y'all, since I'll actually have access to Live for about a month (and I still haven't played Horde!). My GamerTag's OneTalon (http://live.xbox.com/en-GB/profile/profile.aspx?pp=0&GamerTag=OneTalon), so feel free to accept/send a request if you're feeling charitable. :D
I got your request. I accept your invitation for someone who wants to play with someone who most likely will aid you in dying quickly. Meaning I suck real bad and maybe you should avoid me :)
I played loads of Dead Space, and I'm really loving it. It could be my game of the year. It's quite a bit longer than I expected. When it launched a lot of people said it was around an 8 hour game, but I'm at hour nine and still have 3-1/2 chapters to go.
It depends on how you play. If you like to look around and gawk...find extra ammo, the recording etc...then it will be longer. I think the shorter end is those who blew through it. Just a different way to play it is all...
Well, I did the wedding thing. I never had to resort to my DS. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

You played your DS at your wedding? Wow, now that is hardcore gamer. Did you put it away on the honeymoon? ;)
I played "Study for your exams so you don't waste a semester's worth of time and money for nothing: 2"
I played that and writing papers so I can graduate last week. All so I can be employed again next year....the game really sucks but mandatory. I hate mandatory tutorials :p

Gears 2 is a lot of fun when you play with the right people. How much fun I have with Horde mode is pretty dependent on the people with whom I play. I find that I love playing with people who talk and laugh a lot. I also think that the teamwork level is raised when the group sticks to a small area. It's easier to help one another when you stay together and don't go off wandering to different places all the time. You can also catch funny things happening to other people in your screen. For some reason, crawling is hilarious. :p

By the way, the last person on our team was my boyfriend, Joey. We live together, so we always do splitscreen. If you play games with me more, you'll probably see him around a lot. :)

I did know that was Joey your bf. I went dead brain when i was listing everyone I played with. Actually he's pretty funny and chatty also. I really did get a kick out of listening to all of you. ADD did thank you for the early wake up call...she got a lot more done being up so early...she had more time to goof off and knit :). I just thought it was funny, everyone is talkign about drinking beer and i'm thinking about drinking my first cup of coffee for the day...if I was living alone I would of opened a beer though :eek:

itchyeyes

12-15-2008, 02:55 PM

It depends on how you play. If you like to look around and gawk...find extra ammo, the recording etc...then it will be longer. I think the shorter end is those who blew through it. Just a different way to play it is all...
Yeah, I'm definitely doing the former. To me though, a good portion of the fun with games like this is finding all the loot and leveling up your gear, so I don't really feel like I'm stretching it out or anything, just enjoying myself.

Spigot

12-15-2008, 03:01 PM

Yeah, I'm definitely doing the former. To me though, a good portion of the fun with games like this is finding all the loot and leveling up your gear, so I don't really feel like I'm stretching it out or anything, just enjoying myself.Yeah. I averaged about an hour or so per chapter, clocking in at around 12-13 hours by the end of it.

I just can't comprehend the kind of gamer that just puts their head down and plows through games in the shortest amount of time possible for the sake of getting through it, esp. when that means that you miss out on 90% of the atmosphere/lore/story of a game. It especially irks me when those same people then complain about how short and lame a game is when they've missed most of what makes it good. It's like people who play JRPGs and skip all of the cutscenes. I want to slap them :)

zarathstra

12-15-2008, 03:40 PM

You played your DS at your wedding? Wow, now that is hardcore gamer. Did you put it away on the honeymoon? ;)

It wasn't MY wedding :) That would indeed be hardcore, though. I just attended the wedding of a friend.

drobvice

12-15-2008, 03:56 PM

I really, really, really wanted to play Gears 2 but didn't have time (I know, I see you over there 360. I'm sorry but daddy's busy)...

Ended up playing Pokemon Pearl (thanks to the revival thread, can I get a Hallelujah?..nothing...nothing?) and have actually been really enjoying it. I bought it when it came out to see what it was like. Aaannd I wanted to play something on my newly acquired Black DS Lite (thanks Lutheran! so sexy...the DS, I mean. I've never met Lutheran). Been enjoying the lightly themed RPG part anyway (again the game, never met Lutheran. I'll shut up now).

Variable Gear

12-15-2008, 07:42 PM

Ended up playing Pokemon Pearl (thanks to the revival thread, can I get a Hallelujah?..nothing...nothing?)
I can't manage a Hallelujah, but I did find a Bonsly hanging out in my house.

For some reason, he was carrying a MP3 of my favorite song from Diamond and Pearl.

Check it out! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-NHrwJgWzM&feature=related)

W-NHrwJgWzM

Purple Santa

12-16-2008, 05:10 AM

It's like people who play JRPGs and skip all of the cutscenes. I want to slap them :)
There are cutscenes in JRPGs?? ;)

Ended up playing Pokemon Pearl (thanks to the revival thread, can I get a Hallelujah?..nothing...nothing?) and have actually been really enjoying it. I bought it when it came out to see what it was like. Aaannd I wanted to play something on my newly acquired Black DS Lite (thanks Lutheran! so sexy...the DS, I mean. I've never met Lutheran). Been enjoying the lightly themed RPG part anyway (again the game, never met Lutheran. I'll shut up now).
Hallelujah!!Halleluhjaaaaaaaaahhhhh. How's that? ;) Actually that revival thread has me thinking about finding a Pokemon game and playing it. I've never played one...ever...should I take cover now?

And if you ever come back to GoW let's play. Although I can't play if my life depended on it. For even a better laugh...play L4D with me...

And speaking of my stellar L4D play...finally hooked up with Spigot last night (that didn't sound right...) with Rock Bandit...due to them and our bot Bill...I received the achievement for another movie finished. No way I was finishing that on my own...thanks again guys for playing. Hopefully next time i'll play better than the bot...

PoP- if you are a platformer fan...you need to play this. And someone should of warned me there was "collecting" in this game. I am going to spend way to much time looking how to get all the seeds...

Gorvi

12-16-2008, 05:15 AM

I just can't comprehend the kind of gamer that just puts their head down and plows through games in the shortest amount of time possible for the sake of getting through it, esp. when that means that you miss out on 90% of the atmosphere/lore/story of a game. It especially irks me when those same people then complain about how short and lame a game is when they've missed most of what makes it good. It's like people who play JRPGs and skip all of the cutscenes. I want to slap them :)
I could not possibly agree more. I have a feeling most of these people are those who GameFly every new release just to have played everything new. I play the hell out of games now, usually going through a few times if it's a ~10 hour game.

Spigot

12-16-2008, 06:14 AM

I could not possibly agree more. I have a feeling most of these people are those who GameFly every new release just to have played everything new. I play the hell out of games now, usually going through a few times if it's a ~10 hour game.There's nothing wrong with GFing new releases and, if you have the free time on a weekend, blasting through a 8-12 hour game in a couple of days. I wish I had that kind of time again!

But I think that there are some games that almost demand a more relaxed play schedule or else they will burn you out and become too repetitious. Something like The Force Unleashed? By all means, plow through that in a day and a half (I did). But I think that a game like Prince Of Persia needs to be savoured over a long period of time, like a fine wine... or whine...

frederec

12-16-2008, 07:30 AM

It's like people who play JRPGs and skip all of the cutscenes. I want to slap them :)

Eh, many JRPG's have terrible or cliched stories and I'd rather skip the cutscenes to get to the gameplay. Most of the JRPG's I've played were for the battle system and customization aspects. It's only my favorites (MegaTen games especially) where the story tends to be worth spending time seeing.

headhunter228

12-16-2008, 07:42 AM

I know it's Tuesday, but I couldn't get out of my house yesterday. (ICE STORM!!!) I played the hell out of Fallout 3, trying to get somewhere with my Main Battle Tank. When I finally got my Minigun, it was then I realized that ammo for heavy weapons can get pretty expensive, but most certainly worth it.

astranoir

12-16-2008, 08:01 AM

In addition to working on school stuff, I ended up playing some PixelJunk Monsters, as well as a lot of Pokemon Pearl.

rinichanraar

12-16-2008, 02:07 PM

Define better :p. I am sure I will get better enough not to die so fast. Maybe 4 minutes instead of 2 :). No matter, I had a blast playing and you guys were really great to play with. I've stayed away from online gaming in general since before CoG and EvAv, I had no one I knew to play around with online. It's certainly a different experience to play with other which like I said, was a blast. And I must say...you have some GoW skills. It was fun to watch people who know how to play.

That was quoted from the Weekend Gaming thread... I didn't want to revive it since it's no longer the weekend, but I did want to respond.

I think you'll get better as in not dying so fast AND getting more kills. I mean, since it's a team effort, the point of Horde isn't just to get the most kills... but, you know, it's a lot of fun to get them anyway. :D

And THANKS! I don't think I'm great at Gears, but I'm certainly not terrible. I'll always be a Noob of War at heart.

I did know that was Joey your bf. I went dead brain when i was listing everyone I played with. Actually he's pretty funny and chatty also. I really did get a kick out of listening to all of you. ADD did thank you for the early wake up call...she got a lot more done being up so early...she had more time to goof off and knit :). I just thought it was funny, everyone is talkign about drinking beer and i'm thinking about drinking my first cup of coffee for the day...if I was living alone I would of opened a beer though :eek:

Oh, I wasn't sure if you knew. The LIVE names probably made it obvious, huh? The reason for them is that we used to share a GamerTag when we first got the 360 because we didn't want to have renew multiple Gold accounts if we wanted to play with people. We settled on raarbear. When we started playing splitscreen online, we realized we had to split them up... hence bearraar. It was a last minute decision. :p

And, yeah, I think I mentioned it earlier, but we had just gotten back from a party, which is why we kept talking about beer.

drobvice

12-16-2008, 03:37 PM

as well as a lot of Pokemon Pearl.

Hey awesome, it wasn't just me then!

MagGnome

12-16-2008, 05:57 PM

I'm finally here! I know all of you were wondering when I would show up. :p

I didn't do nearly as much gaming as I wanted to this past weekend, but I still got in some time. Here's what I played:

Civilization Revolution - I played several hours of this on Saturday, after which I dropped it in the mailbox. The game is a lot of fun, but I would have appreciated more depth.

Left 4 Dead - I went on Steam Saturday night intending to play Sam & Max and I Fluid, but instead I was invited to play L4D with BrassGecko. I've turned him down several times in the past, but this time I accepted. I'm really glad I did, as we all had a blast! I wasn't exactly on top of my game, but I still had a lot of fun in Versus mode, and again when we played through Death Toll. I even made it to the end and jumped onto the boat! I'm glad I finally finished that campaign, and I had so much fun doing it. I'm looking forward to playing more of this over the weekend.

Earth Defense Force 2017 - This game is kind of strange, and very simple, but it is a lot of fun. I played for about an hour on Sunday night, and I plan on playing it more this week and during the weekend before I mail it back to Gamefly.