Weekend Gaming (5/1/09) - What are YOU playing? [Archive]

Purple Santa

05-01-2009, 04:47 AM

Welcome back weekend gamers and welcome to another new month. May is the month for Mother’s, flower beds and other fun chores outdoors, graduations, relieved students thankful for another semester’s end while toward the end of the month there is a holiday to some begin to think about the long summer ahead. So on this side of the globe; we shed our winter blues finally, dragging out the barbeque tools to do some grilling perhaps, or just getting some sun for our too long inside bodies…the weekend rings in let’s enjoy some time off which hopefully will include lots of gaming when not enjoying the great weather.

With my classes officially over, my summer can begin. I’ll avoid the sunburns from the gardening, staying away from lighter fluid and charcoal more likely a trip to the beach before the crazy crowds may be in order. Otherwise it’s time to delve into the ever growing pile of backlog of games that is staring at me. Ye olde list for the weekend:

GTA:TL&D: Johnny is finally “made” leader of his clan of bikers. No one knew that was coming right? I’m guessing the plot now will evolve toward the ultimeate showdown. I’m hoping the story opens up and I can go on a nice marathon of playing to finish. A tall order but I’d like to push this out so get to the rest of the backlog of 360 games.

GoWII: Minor quibbles aside (puzzles aren’t always intuitive, flying platforming Kratos) the game keeps on impressing. The visuals of this game and it being on the PS2…wow. The various ways to kill, the ease of use of the combos and of course the awesome weapons…this makes me forget the parts where Kratos must QTE platform his way across the lands; Another one I’m hoping to finish this weekend.

GTA:CTW: The other half of my GTA filled obsessed weekend. I’ll be with this game awhile since half my time is spent drug running, trying to build upon my drug empire. 1 million dollars or bust!

Lux Pain: I recently stumbled upon files that I can access to get all kinds of background information the characters, plot points etc. After finding this information…it’s making the plot and what I’m doing in this game a lot less weird. Not much…but it makes sense…for a visual text game which then is on par as story lines go.

Other possibilities: GH II, Etrian Odyssey II, Mana Khemia (PSP) and Shadow Hearts.

There is my weekend. How about yours? What are you planning/doing? And of course, what are YOU playing?

frederec

05-01-2009, 04:53 AM

This weekend is a weekend for writing finals, grading final homework assignments, and the like. Even still, I'm hoping to squeeze in a bit of Rune Factory Frontier since my wife forced me to start a game and got me hooked on it. I may be able to get in a little Lux Pain or maybe even some Persona 2: Innocent Sin. We'll see.

Ancalagon

05-01-2009, 05:04 AM

Hmmm, probably some Diablo II. Its funny how the bug can bite at odd moments. But its still such a good game, I can immediately see why its so much more fun to play than Sacred 2. I'll level up my sorceress, maybe experiment with my amazon, and hopefully finish nightmare with my Paladin.

I also have plenty of Battlestar Galactica to watch.

And there is also Pokemon Platinum should boredom strike. But somehow I doubt that.

Oh, and for us in the UK, Monday is a Bank Holiday, my favourite game of all. Long weekend!

Wilkz07

05-01-2009, 05:18 AM

friend coming over tonight so its going to be Gears2 Horde mode, Army of 2.

Cyndair

05-01-2009, 05:36 AM

I'm anxiously awaiting my magic no-lemon Best Buy replacement code for my late 50" Plasma TV. You know, the one I said broke OVER A MONTH AGO? If those bastards don't decide to make me wait another weekend for a TV replacement then I'll be picking that up and playing:

Resident Evil 5: My brother and law have been working through this local co-op style. I've been waiting for my TV to be fixed for this puppy since it's hard enough to see everything split screen on a 50" HD set, let alone a 27" SD set that I'm operating on currently.

Killzone 2: The game is all about the visuals and I'm not going to waste them on an older set. Waiting waiting... I'm about halfway through the SP campaign still and I haven't even had a chance to check out the MP yet.

TV or no TV, Persona 3: I managed to sink in a couple hours last night. I'm at 43 hours played and I've got my party all around level 35 with 15ish days to go before the 5th full moon. I'm going to do some more grinding in Tartarus (probably stop around level 40 or so before the next moon) since I've been slacking to work on my Academics and Courage. The nice thing is that I'm only one nub away from maxxed out on both stats. Once I have that taken care of, I'm going full force on the social links.

Age of Conan: Still enjoying myself but didn't get much of a chance to play the last week and a half or so. I'm around level 25 with my guardian and questing through Khopshef Province. If I don't get the new TV then I'll probably be sinking most of my time into this and P3.

Vigil80

05-01-2009, 05:54 AM

A few things going on this weekend, but first, to catch up...

During the week I got F.E.A.R. 2 from Gamefly and spent two evenings completing the single player campaign. It was a solid game with lots of polish, but nothing amazing. I thought the first game was creepier, and had more gripping story development. This one was just a little disappointing, especially since (miniscule spoiler) the ending is an obvious setup for a third game.

CoD4 multi has taken up my time off and on as I try to get better. I doubt I'll ever reach gold cross status, but I intend to be a sharpshooter before Modern Warfare 2 comes out.

Jagged Alliance 2 continues to grip me, and I'm so glad I finally decided to play it. As a matter of fact, once I got about 160 days into the campaign, I deleted all my saves and started over. Yes, on purpose. :P I'll do that from time to time, spend some time really learning the ins and outs of a game, then just start over from scratch with my prior knowledge to build on.

I've felt guilty for not spending more time with Lord of the Rings Online. Whenever I'm subscribed to a MMO, I feel bad for not playing it every moment I can since I'm basically paying for that time. But on the upside, they recently started a special and I bought three months for the price of two, so the time I haven't spent playing it in the last week or two has been cheaper.

I see on my Gamefly queque that Prince of Persia was mailed to me. I expect to see it today or tomorrow.

If that wasn't enough gaming, Sunday is the day I play with my D&D group. Should be a pretty entertaining weekend.

Kelegacy

05-01-2009, 06:08 AM

It will be a casual gaming weekend for me probably. Just some gaming here and there, not too much time invested in any given game. We're going to put another offer on a home tonight, so hopefully that goes okay. Very cute place.

Since I bought all those games at Best Buy last weekend, I figure I'll be playing them. Such as:

Quantum of Solace: This game is okay, but very easy even on the harder settings. I'll finish it up this weekend and maybe farm a few achievements.

Soldier of Fortune Payback: This game is not great and I hate dying because the loading takes way too long. I might have to bump it down to Normal difficulty. It was only $10 w/ the ultimate edition of Rambo First Blood, so I couldn't pass it up. I might or might not play it some more. It's gruesome, which is what SoF is all about.

Soul Calibur IV: Not a huge fighting game fan, but will mess around with this a bit more.

And so far, unopened, that I might try out: Blitz the League II and Red Alert 3. Also snagged Silent Hill Homecoming and Pure during the sale, but I've rented those before. I'll open and resume them eventually.

Also, MLB Power Pros for PS2. I love this little baseball game. Potentially some more Overlord as well.

Suave Peanut

05-01-2009, 06:26 AM

I expect I'll spend another weekend will my still-new-to-me PlayStation 3. My good friend had his first Xbox die on him (E74) and I loaned him mine until his is replaced. Ain't I a swell guy?

Valkyria Chronicles
I have been taking this game slowly, playing no more than a chapter per day, along with a skirmish or two. It's just such a gem that I don't want to blow through it and be over so quickly, as I am wont to do with a lot of things. Taking it slow, having a good time.

Burnout Paradise
The allure of digital delivery convinced me to own this game. If only you all weren't playing on Xbox I could be convinced to pick up some of the add-ons! For now, I'm just working through the main game. Maybe someday I will beat one of Psykoboy's record times!

Additionally, I have been going through my PS1 and PS2 backlog, seeing what some games look like on the PS3. I will probably pick out and RP to start playing through soon, as when I was transferring my saves I noticed that my PSone memory card has, at some point over the years, lost my savegames for nearly everything I ever played on the system!! That is hundreds of hours of progress gone, which leads to one sad peanut.

Spigot

05-01-2009, 06:30 AM

Well, my biggest game to play this weekend is the "Go Get Interviewed" game that I get to play this afternoon. I'm pretty pumped about it and for all intents and purposes I have the position anyway, but it has been a long time since I was the interviewee instead of the interviewer, so I'm feeling a bit nervous nontheless. This means I can't wear my Megaman shirt into work today. I have to actually look presentable for once.

Aside from winning that game and possibly getting a promotion, here are the other games I'm looking at this weekend:

Ninja Blade (360) - I just got this in the mail yesterday and boy howdy, is this game ever fun. It's purely style over substance but man, is it ever slathered in style. It is also jam packed to the gills with QTEs but since I'm one of the 8 people on the face of the planet who actually enjoys QTEs, that's a good thing.

Xenosaga 2 (PS2) - I've really enjoyed spending the majority of my gaming time this week in my dingy basement playing on a wired PS2 controller hooked up to my old 27" SDTV that cuts off the corners and tops and bottom of the screen. It really makes me appreciate my HDTV and the gaming I do on it :) Oh, and Xenosaga 2 is making a bit more sense and hopefully won't drag on for much longer so that I can actually get to the third Xenosaga game, which is what I really want to play.

Suikoden: Tierkeris (DS) - I decided to take a bit of a break from Theresia again and worked on this. It's a very pretty game but it would be nice if the dungeons pulled out a little bit more so I could see more than the 5 feet of corridor in front of me.

I'll probably fire up a few other DS games as well, most likely Henry Hatsworth, but that's about all I have on my 'To Play' list for the weekend.

We'll see how my brain is after I have the interview.

Did I mention I'm having an interview?

INTERVIEW!

rein

05-01-2009, 06:30 AM

Working all day Saturday. :(

When I am home, I will probably put a little time into FFXI. Other than that, random stuff until somthing sticks.

Gorvi

05-01-2009, 06:37 AM

Persona 3 FES I'm back into it, finally. After taking about 5 weeks away from the game I'm back at it full force. I put in about 8 hours over the past 3 days and I'm making some good progress. I maxed out two more Social Links, the old couple and the sports team, now I think I'll work on the coach next during the days, and the business man and old monk in the evenings when I don't go to Tartarus. Speaking of Tartarus, I'm up to floor 135 and stuck on the boss there, I think this is the first time a boss is really kicking my ass. It does AOE attacks that hit everyone for damn near 80% of their health, and while I can recover pretty well from one of those, if it does it two rounds in a row I'm done for. That, and I can't seem to hit it for any significant damage with any attacks, I just have to get lucky and hit it with a crit to knock it down. There's got to be something I'm missing, as just grinding a bit doesn't seem like it'll do it. Eh, I'll figure it out.

Dead Head Fred I think I'm almost at the end of the game now. I finally have the last head and I'm working my way through what looks like the last area, at least if the map is to be believed. I'm glad I ended up picking this up, it's been a very fun game.

Final Fantasy XI I'll probably be taking it a bit easy with FFXI this weekend, but I'd still like to get on a bit to try to do some missions. That, and merit a bit. Hopefully by the time next Friday rolls around I'll have moved servers and I'll have two friends I work with to do stuff with, which will probably start off with doinga ton of Assaults. I want Yigit gear for my BLM and SCH! :)

Assassin's Creed I really want to give the game another go. I don't think I really gave it a fair shot a few weeks ago when I was trying it initially, so it should get another chance this weekend.

Cavalier

05-01-2009, 06:56 AM

Front Mission 3 will be played as I continue my "Squaresoft Revival Tour"

I really need to fire up Valkyria Chronicles again at some point.

SilentScreams

05-01-2009, 06:57 AM

Well I'm working Saturday as well as Bank Holiday Monday, so it's not much of a weekend really.

With that said, I'm expecting my Wolverine game rental to arrive in the mail, so I'll probably play a bit of that on Sunday interspaced by the mandatory Civ 4 game(s).

zarathstra

05-01-2009, 07:04 AM

I'll probably play some more Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 on my DS while out and about.

While I'm home, probably more Oblivion. I'm currently Arch-Mage (despite not being very good at magic) and I'm getting ready for the Fighter's Guild quests. I'm not sure what I want to play after Oblivion. GTAIV, maybe?

Also, everyone remember that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day! Stop by your local comic shop for some free books. Most stores are also having sales, guests, etc. My store is even throwing a BBQ!

Gorvi

05-01-2009, 07:15 AM

.While I'm home, probably more Oblivion. I'm currently Arch-Mage (despite not being very good at magic) and I'm getting ready for the Fighter's Guild quests.
I have had the really strong urge to get back to Oblivion lately. I haven't played it in over a year, I'm just at the beginning of the Mage's Guild quest line, which I hear a lot of people like.

drobvice

05-01-2009, 07:18 AM

I will be playing a mixture of GTA:CTW/Shiren/EO this weekend, depending on my mood. I can't seem to get very far in GTA as I spend too much time just screwing around.

I may pick up a DSi Ware game as I almost can't stand it any more. The points, they taunt me! Plus, I would love to have something on there that is good for killing 5 min that doesn't require swapping carts. I seem to have forgotten I have "real" consoles to play.

Good luck Spig!

menage

05-01-2009, 07:20 AM

Suikoden: Tierkeris (DS) - I decided to take a bit of a break from Theresia again and worked on this. It's a very pretty game but it would be nice if the dungeons pulled out a little bit more so I could see more than the 5 feet of corridor in front of me.

I'm still playing this, and am enjoying it more and more. The cast of characters is steadily growing and collecting them all is fun. I love the story with this one the most however. It manages to be fast and in depth enough to keep you interested without adding a ton of BS on top of it like most JRPGs do. It hits all the right notes with me. It don't mind it looking and sounding the way it does either. My favorite DS game so far, and on of the best JRPG's I played in the past couple of years.

I'm playing FarCry 2. It's repetitive to an extend but I really like the free flowing nature of it. Looks brilliant and the shooting is just plain fun.

Maybe start up Viking. I need some sword, axe and cutting action.

Banjo N&B, collect at least some jiggies.

LarsenNET

05-01-2009, 07:34 AM

I'll be continuing Final Fantasy X. Doubt I'll have much time for anything else.

MagGnome

05-01-2009, 07:41 AM

From the previous thread:

Or perhaps a Wed. night game of multiplayer Sins (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=6241)?

/not so subtle hint

Ha, subtle indeed. So you're saying you had fun the last time we played?

Last night I played the game of "wake up at a strangers house the morning after your birthday." I don't recommend it, even as a rental. :/

Cyndair

05-01-2009, 07:44 AM

Ten19

05-01-2009, 07:51 AM

I've been sucked back into Dead Rising and am really happy I gave it a second go, I finished the main story and am gunning to complete Overtime Mode now as well. Damn, it's a lot of fun, can't wait until DR2!

Fully intend to see if I can get City of Heroes to convince me to stay for a subscription, we'll see! Might also pop into Lord of the Rings: Online for a bit.

May also try to complete another game in Culdcept Saga, and dabble in some other 360 games I have backlogged.

Gorvi

05-01-2009, 07:53 AM

Honestly, I enjoyed the Mage Guild quest line more than I did the main story quest line. Good stuff.
The only one I've completed is the Thieves' Guild, but I really enjoyed that. As for the main game, I've closed the first gate and that's it. :o

Xydarc

05-01-2009, 07:53 AM

Ha, subtle indeed. So you're saying you had fun the last time we played?

I had a good time with you last time and recently with Shadow and Voodoo. Join us. Multiplayer Sins of a Solar Empire is a blast.:cool:

Last night I played the game of "wake up at a strangers house the morning after your birthday." I don't recommend it, even as a rental. :/
Especially when the stranger's husband comes home from his graveyard shift.:(

Xydarc

05-01-2009, 08:04 AM

Monsters Vs. Aliens: Not the game, the movie. I'll be taking my nieces to it. We're having an Uncle Dave sleepover.:D

Rock Band 2: As part of the Uncle Dave sleepover, my nieces and I will be playing the SpongeBob songs I bought.

X-Men Origins Wolverine: Not the game, the movie. I'll be seeing Wolvie with some buddies this Saturday.

Atlantica Online: I need to decide if I want to finish my current quest line of the Hanging Gardens, or go through the Princess merc quest. I've heard that the Princess is worthless; however, the only way to get the Inventor merc is by leveling Princess to 50. Decisions, decisions :/.

It's going to be a busy weekend, hopefully I'll be able to sneak in some Sins, Valkyria Chronicles, Witcher, or Eschalon Book I.

Purple Santa

05-01-2009, 08:11 AM

This weekend is a weekend for writing finals, grading final homework assignments, and the like.
How hard are you making your finals? ;)

TV or no TV, Persona 3: I managed to sink in a couple hours last night. I'm at 43 hours played and I've got my party all around level 35 with 15ish days to go before the 5th full moon. I'm going to do some more grinding in Tartarus (probably stop around level 40 or so before the next moon) since I've been slacking to work on my Academics and Courage. The nice thing is that I'm only one nub away from maxxed out on both stats. Once I have that taken care of, I'm going full force on the social links.

What social links do you have so far? And the academics...the longest one for me to finally max out. I went everyday someplace to get my academics increased. It still felt like forever. And I don't think I used the maxed out level for the social link it would help with either...
A few things going on this weekend, but first, to catch up...

I see on my Gamefly queque that Prince of Persia was mailed to me. I expect to see it today or tomorrow.

Let us know how you like PoP. It seems it was a game that was liked and appreciated for what it was...or the other end of disliking it immensely. I really liked PoP...the DLC...not so much...

Quantum of Solace: This game is okay, but very easy even on the harder settings. I'll finish it up this weekend and maybe farm a few achievements.

Everytime i'm in Target, I hear the commercial for this game. I had no interest in it until I saw the commercial half a dozen times. If I had extra cash I would be tempted to go bargain bin hunting for it...

Ninja Blade (360) - I just got this in the mail yesterday and boy howdy, is this game ever fun. It's purely style over substance but man, is it ever slathered in style. It is also jam packed to the gills with QTEs but since I'm one of the 8 people on the face of the planet who actually enjoys QTEs, that's a good thing.

I didn't mind QTE's before. I didn't even mind them in PoP (for the most part...the boss fight sucked) but playing God of War II...I think I need a break from QTE's.

Also, everyone remember that tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day! Stop by your local comic shop for some free books. Most stores are also having sales, guests, etc. My store is even throwing a BBQ!
I used to love free comic book day. Never got a BBQ out of it but great sales and other enticing ways to get customers to visit the local stores. I miss collecting. Maybe next year when i'm employed again I may start up again...
I will be playing a mixture of GTA:CTW/Shiren/EO this weekend, depending on my mood. I can't seem to get very far in GTA as I spend too much time just screwing around.

I may pick up a DSi Ware game as I almost can't stand it any more. The points, they taunt me! Plus, I would love to have something on there that is good for killing 5 min that doesn't require swapping carts. I seem to have forgotten I have "real" consoles to play.

GTA:CTW is the devil. I promise myself a few minutes to do some dealing then I am done. 2 hours later i'm still dealing and/or checking out some missions to see how far I can get with them. I need to put the game down so I can finally play EO II...otherwise Avnovice is going to throw me out of his EO thread soon :p

I'm still holding on to my points. I have so much else to play...the need to buy something is taking a backseat to the pile of games I have next to me at all times. And i've lost lots of time in the last month to my DSi when i really could of been playing on my consoles.

Good Luck Spigot! Although I think the Megama shirt might of brought you some luck :D

headhunter228

05-01-2009, 08:21 AM

I have had the really strong urge to get back to Oblivion lately. I haven't played it in over a year, I'm just at the beginning of the Mage's Guild quest line, which I hear a lot of people like.

I got my Oblivion disk back last Wednesday, and I've become addicted to it all over again. That's all I've been playing recently, and all I will be playing until I get some money. I need new games for my DS, and I'm not sure what to pick up. Maybe Moon or GTA? Anyway, since Wednesday, I've leveled a Dark Elf custom Assassin to 20 and became Speaker for the Dark Brotherhood. I've also leveled a Breton jack-of-all-trades (Blade, Destruction, and Sneak, able to do pretty much everything) to 20 and completed the Theives Guild quests. This is the character I'm mostly working on. Could use some extra survivability, and once I find some Glass armor, I'm going to have that enchanted with various shield spells. He has a hard time surviving melee combat with the tougher creatures, such as Daedroths and Ogres, and if he doesn't have room to maneuver, he's in trouble. He works out pretty well, though. As for this weekend, it's going to be all Oblivion, all the time, because my other plans are getting rained out. Probably going to start working on the Dark Brotherhood quests again.

National Kato

05-01-2009, 08:36 AM

I've got more home decorating to do on Saturday, and Sunday I leave for Des Moines on business so my big gaming weekend will have to wait till next week. However, if I do get anything in, it'll be:

Burnout Paradise: Cops n' Robbers is a really fun mode and I'm looking forward to spending more time at the wheel.

GTA:CW: Since I'll be on a plane Sunday and in a hotel I'll get some quality time dealing drugs and looking for Yu Jian.

Rolando: More mobile gaming on my iPhone while I travel. I enjoy this game in short segments. It's a nice diversion and the graphics are top-notch for a mobile device.

frederec

05-01-2009, 08:49 AM

How hard are you making your finals? ;)

This may sound mean, but since I've gotten this job, I've been trying to make my tests easier and easier, and still watch my students struggle with them. Sometimes I joke that I could tell my students exactly what's on the final, and work through all the problems beforehand, and some would still fail. It's not that bad, but this school is a far cry from some of the students I saw at Rice (which honestly isn't really a fair comparison).

rinichanraar

05-01-2009, 08:55 AM

Probably Dead Space. Joey bought it for me a few weeks ago when we realized the price had dropped, and I finally started it last night. I finished the first chapter, and I'm enjoying it so far. As much as I've learned to expect alien bodies popping up from the floor, I still get shocked every once in awhile because the music is so creepy. Even things like the doors malfunctioning and opening and closing loudly is unsettling. So far, I like it.

Last night I played the game of "wake up at a strangers house the morning after your birthday." I don't recommend it, even as a rental. :/

While you don't recommend it, I'd say it's a better rental than something like, "go home at 8 and fall asleep early the night of your birthday." Now that would be a boring game. At least you presumably did something exciting. ;)

National Kato

05-01-2009, 09:06 AM

Probably Dead Space.

Th reason this game is the only colored title in my sig is because I still haven't finished it, having started the game when it was released. :(

I actually restarted it, after reaching the 7th chapter on the Normal difficulty, so that it would be more challenging and more of a 'survival' horror game. I just don't want to play it during the day and my nights have been short lately. I need a good weekend with nothing do to so I can stay up all night and finish it.

menage

05-01-2009, 09:15 AM

Th reason this game is the only colored title in my sig is because I still haven't finished it, having started the game when it was released. :(

I actually restarted it, after reaching the 7th chapter on the Normal difficulty, so that it would be more challenging and more of a 'survival' horror game. I just don't want to play it during the day and my nights have been short lately. I need a good weekend with nothing do to so I can stay up all night and finish it.

Yeah, daytime Deadspace isn't really the way to go. Utter Darkness and cranked up sound is pure awesome though. Probably the best game I played this year, hope there's a sequel in the works.

Cyndair

05-01-2009, 09:30 AM

How hard are you making your finals? ;)

What social links do you have so far? And the academics...the longest one for me to finally max out. I went everyday someplace to get my academics increased. It still felt like forever. And I don't think I used the maxed out level for the social link it would help with either...

With the academics, I make sure that I do the quiz show game at the arcade in the mall in the evening on Wed and Sat (or whatever days it is). It gives you a bigger stat bump than some of the other methods. That has been helping it to go up a bit faster. I've still got one more rank up to go. Hopefully I can pull it off before the next round of exams.

Here is how I'm doing on social links (to the best of my memory):

Magician - Maxxed
Priestess - Not Started
Empress - Not Started
Emperor - Rank 4
Hierophant - Rank 7
Lovers - Rank 1
Chariot - Maxxed
Justice - Rank 1
Hermit - Rank 7
Fortune - Rank 2
Strength - Rank 7
Hanged Man - Rank 7
Temperance - Rank 3
Devil - Rank 2
Tower - Rank 3
Star - Not Started
Moon - Rank 4
Sun - Not Started

I'm playing more for the story than the stats so I'm kinda prioritizing based on which ones I find the most interesting. Dating-wise, I'm going to finish up Yuko once school starts again and then probably do Yukari next. I'll probably finish up hanged man (girl at the shrine) on the days Yuko isn't available since I'm close on that one and then do Emperor (student council). I know I won't be able to max them all so I'm not trying to stress out about it but I do have a plan :D.

Purple Santa

05-01-2009, 09:32 AM

Maybe Moon or GTA? .
GTA is probably the better bet since it's receiving mostly good reviews and more importantly, a great buzz around these parts. Moon though is another good one but i've heard some rave about a shooter on the DS...others didn't find it all that. I'd say get both if you can...but if not GTA first...

Probably Dead Space. Joey bought it for me a few weeks ago when we realized the price had dropped, and I finally started it last night. I finished the first chapter, and I'm enjoying it so far. As much as I've learned to expect alien bodies popping up from the floor, I still get shocked every once in awhile because the music is so creepy. Even things like the doors malfunctioning and opening and closing loudly is unsettling. So far, I like it.
Dead Space needs to be played at night with all the lights off. Even better if you have a pair of headphones. The music/sounds make the game. It's not scary..but as you said..creepy. And it stays creepy. As long as you don't expect big scares...it's an awesome experience. The details of the environment, the visuals added to the creepiness for sure too.

Last night I played the game of "wake up at a strangers house the morning after your birthday." I don't recommend it, even as a rental. :/

Sounds a lot more exciting than my past birthday. Appreciate that it's still an option the game you played ;). Besides, at least when you awoke the next morning, there wasn't a very angry man chasing you out a window. Or let's hope not. A far ago memory for me...of that very scenario. A very not happy father finding is "innocent" daughter had been "dirtied". It's funny now..but climbing down a fire escape to escape that angry father...not a game I ever played again :).

quidmonkey

05-01-2009, 09:37 AM

On my plate:

FE: Shadow Dragon - Merciless Mode. Chapter 11 currently.
Time Hollow - Between FE sessions.
SSBB - Couple of friends have gotten me back into it.
OutRun - Fun shit.
Peggle - Just because.
Bionic Commando Demo - On a friend's new HDTV.
RE5 - Maybe. Pro still awaits.
rRootage - If I get bored. And drunk.

Spigot

05-01-2009, 09:52 AM

I'm still playing this, and am enjoying it more and more. The cast of characters is steadily growing and collecting them all is fun. I love the story with this one the most however. It manages to be fast and in depth enough to keep you interested without adding a ton of BS on top of it like most JRPGs do. It hits all the right notes with me. It don't mind it looking and sounding the way it does either. My favorite DS game so far, and on of the best JRPG's I played in the past couple of years. Yeah, I'm liking the game a lot and fast-talkers aside, the VO is pretty decent. It's just that the camera is pulled in so close (esp. in the dungeons) that it's hard to really get a feel for where you have and haven't been.

And the characters could move a bit faster. I could probably handle the zoomed in camera if they didn't plod around so much. Thankfully both issues are quite minor in the grand scheme of things. I just like to complain.

Ah... an hour and a half till my interview. Goodbye fingernails... Nyah!

headhunter228

05-01-2009, 09:56 AM

FE: Shadow Dragon - Merciless Mode. Chapter 11 currently.

Damn, that's hardcore. I had no problem beating the game on Normal, but as I went, I had to start abusing the Arenas to get my characters strong enough. I got bored with it after a while. I love Fire Emblem, but I want a new game, not a remake of an old one.

Doogie2K

05-01-2009, 10:11 AM

Well, I've beaten the Finals games (and hoping for an S-Rank on at least one of them), and have a week mostly off before work starts, so it'll probably be a whole lot more Mass Effect (just made my way into ExoGeni and beat that Armature; motherfucker doesn't go down easy), and various dabblings in Rock Band 2, No More Heroes, Sins: Entrenchment (my Sins buddy is avoiding his in-laws this weekend), and maybe even going back to Gears 2, because I'm something like 2/3 of the way through (I stopped at the three-corpser ambush).

Gorvi

05-01-2009, 10:12 AM

Ah... an hour and a half till my interview. Goodbye fingernails... Nyah!
Good luck! :)

zarathstra

05-01-2009, 11:44 AM

frederec

05-01-2009, 11:49 AM

The Mage Guild quest line is my favorite so far, although really did like the main storyline too.

There's some really good stuff in the assassin's guild quests.

Kelegacy

05-01-2009, 11:51 AM

Everytime i'm in Target, I hear the commercial for this game. I had no interest in it until I saw the commercial half a dozen times. If I had extra cash I would be tempted to go bargain bin hunting for it...

$10 at Best Buy this week if you can find it. Mine came with a shirt. Fits pretty good, too.

If you want I can probably hook you up after I beat it. It's not a terrible game but it's not stellar either. There are zero gadgets in this game. It's just a FPS with cover. 007 games should have gadgets!!! What gives?

menage

05-01-2009, 12:28 PM

Good luck! :)
I'll second that, but it will probably be over by now:D

WhyThree

05-01-2009, 01:02 PM

A take home final today but after that

Bioshock. I'm loving this game. I just got out of Fort Frolic. The art direction and atmosphere are amazing, the music is great, the combat mechanics are spot on, the characters are iconic. It even quotes period plays (heard a quip from Tennessee William's The Glass Menagerie). I understand why this game is one of the highest rated this generation, it deserves every accolade.

I'd love to see some Metroid-style puzzle solving in the sequel. With all the plasmids this format seems ripe for the opportunity.

I've heard people say that multiplayer in Bioshock 2 wouldn't work, but I could see it. It could even be class-based with a set loadout of weapons and plasmids. Most of the classic gametypes (DM, TDM, CTF, King of the Hill) could work, or I could see a mode where one player is a Big Daddy and the other players try to take him down to become him. Maybe even a LFD-style mode where one or two players go through single player with other players as spawning as splicers or the occasional Big Daddy.

National Kato

05-01-2009, 01:06 PM

Some good ideas, WhyThree. I do hope the multiplayer modes are a bit more diverse and creative than the standards, but Rockstar tried that with GTA4 and guess what everyone basically plays? DM, FFA, and the standards. :(

quidmonkey

05-01-2009, 01:27 PM

Damn, that's hardcore. I had no problem beating the game on Normal, but as I went, I had to start abusing the Arenas to get my characters strong enough. I got bored with it after a while. I love Fire Emblem, but I want a new game, not a remake of an old one.

As a vet of the series, I Gamefly'd FE:SD and started on Merciless. I like it for the challenge; if you remove that it gets stale quickly. Try online or hard mode (** or ***).

headhunter228

05-01-2009, 01:43 PM

Damn, that's hardcore. I had no problem beating the game on Normal, but as I went through the difficulty levels, I had to start abusing the Arenas to get my characters strong enough. I got bored with it after a while. I love Fire Emblem, but I want a new game, not a remake of an old one.

I left out something I had meant to say. I try to avoid abusing the arenas, mainly because it takes forever. But, on the harder difficulty levels, enemies get a lot tougher. I had no problem on Normal and Hard *.

Spigot

05-01-2009, 02:15 PM

Well, I survived the interview and if there is only one other candidate and it's the person I think it is, I don't think I said anything that should torpedo my chances. Now to wait for the call...

In the meantime, let the gaming begin! I had to resist the urge to run out to the store and buy a DSi to celebrate. I don't want to jinx everything!

hunterx280

05-01-2009, 02:25 PM

Not sure how much time I will have for gaming this weekend but I think the weekend staples of TF2 and Left 4 Dead are a given. I think Left 4 Dead will get played quite a bit because of the free play tonight might inspire a friend or two to buy a copy.

I might throw in some Castle Crashers as I want to get one character to max. I already have all the animal orbs and most of the weapons.

I think that I will go see Wolverine tonight or tomorrow, depending on how tired I am.

Jackel

05-01-2009, 03:05 PM

Probably some Left 4 Dead

Get a little further into Bioshock when I don't have time to do a full length versus game.

Those are my options for this weekend.

Mainly though i'll be playing the real life video game, going on a hike again.

Purple Santa

05-01-2009, 05:13 PM

$10 at Best Buy this week if you can find it. Mine came with a shirt. Fits pretty good, too.

If you want I can probably hook you up after I beat it. It's not a terrible game but it's not stellar either. There are zero gadgets in this game. It's just a FPS with cover. 007 games should have gadgets!!! What gives?

Sure we can talk. I'm hoping you are willing to be like gamefly and allow me to rent it :D

jpublic

05-01-2009, 07:16 PM

Gentlemen, it is TIME.

I've loaded up SMT: Nocturne on my PS2, and by god, this time I am going to finish it!

Spigot

05-01-2009, 07:40 PM

Gentlemen, it is TIME.

I've loaded up SMT: Nocturne on my PS2, and by god, this time I am going to finish it!Oh you poor, poor man. Poor, poor, poor man.

Kelegacy

05-01-2009, 09:36 PM

Sure we can talk. I'm hoping you are willing to be like gamefly and allow me to rent it :D

I meant you can just have it. I beat it tonight, might try to get a few more achievements. It wasn't bad, but some areas have TONS of bad guys. Wave after wave. It got annoying. Just hide and snipe until they go away.

I have to take back a PS3 version of Quantum of Solace w/shirt as well as Pure tomorrow because the nephew I bought these for is getting rid of his PS3 apparently. He wants a 360. I told him to buy a 360 to begin with, but he went with the Wii, then sold that to get a PS3, now wants to sell that. His bday isn't until August, so these games will probably be pointless by then.

Oh, and I put an offer on a house tonight. It's actually pretty damn cute. We're the first offer and they have until tomorrow night. Some people aren't even viewing the place until Monday! So hopefully we get it while it's hot. New to the market and we like to jump all over those. I love the quiet, dead-end street and neighborhood. I can lay in the road and take a nap if I wanted.

EternalGamer

05-01-2009, 09:51 PM

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts: My relationship with this game started out rocky. I bought it on release because of a deal on Amazon where I got it for $35 w/ the XBLA Banjo Kazooie for free, but after playing it for a few hours, I wasn't feeling it. I missed the traditional platforming of the old games and didn't like the vechile controls.

About five months later, I've picked it back up and it has become one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent memory. I started, oddly enough, by avoiding the vehicle stuff altogether and just spent several hours exploring and collecting notes and vehicle parts in the game's overworld. But collecting those vehicle parts gave me lots of cool new stuff to experiment with and once I learned a few basic rules for designing vehicles, I started really enjoying the vehicle segments too.

At first I was having problems building vehicles that didn't suck, but once I learned to make them wider if they were spinning out too much and heavier or shorter if they were flipping over, I started creating some that wre really fun to control. And the flexibility in terms of what you can create is fantastic. I've made everything from armada ships to AT-ST walkers from Star Wars to the Halo ghost vehicle. And I've barely scratched the surface in terms of what you can create.

It really is ashame this game didn't do better. Rare clearly took a huge chance and it paid off in terms of creativity but not in terms of sales. This game is like Banjo meets Diddy Kong meets Legos, and, once you get past the learning curve, it is a fantastic and entirely original experience.

67 puzzle pieces and counting.

Spigot

05-01-2009, 09:55 PM

My lord.

Is anyone else out there playing Ninja Blade? This game is so over the top stupidly fun I can't stop grinning while I play it. I mean, I just had a missile shot at me and then I rode it around and aimed it back at the guy who shot it.

And in another part, I was riding a motorcycle that I grabbed out of midair... as it was falling from above the skyscrapers of Tokyo... and then I rode it across a bunch of other vehicles that were also falling through the air and tossed it at the boss for the final killing blow.

I mean, I don't care what your stances on QTEs are... that's damned fun stuff right there.

I just wish there was a way to save mid-mission as they seem to take almost an hour per mission, at least at the speed I'm going through them.

Depending on what i hear back from my manager tomorrow, I might go out and pick up Excite Bots to celebrate. I've heard nothing but great things and I saw it for $40 at the local store. If EB has it for $40, I will go there and use my store credit and only drop $20 out of pocket. Whee!

EternalGamer

05-01-2009, 10:33 PM

I enjoyed the demo of Ninja Blade. I look forward to 6 months to a year from now when I can pick it up for $10. :)

Spigot

05-01-2009, 10:36 PM

I enjoyed the demo of Ninja Blade. I look forward to 6 months to a year from now when I can pick it up for $10. :)Yeah. It's a total rental but it's just so stupidly FUN. If I find it used or deeply discounted somewhere for $20 or so, I'll grab it, but I'd never pay full price for it.

Arphahat

05-01-2009, 10:58 PM

On the PC, I'll likely be doing some TF2and L4D when CoGgers or my other pals are on and want to play. Otherwise, I'll be playing Titan Quest: Immortal Throne. I am in the final act on Normal difficulty and am having fun with my bow abilities. Looking to finish Normal this weekend and maybe start on Advanced (or whatever the second difficulty is).

On my DS, a game that has grown on me is the latest GTA. At first, the top-down view didn't really do it for me, but I am finally appreciating it after getting the hang of some of its quirks. I'll be running drugs and attempting to steal shipments mostly; that aspect of the game has captivated my interest more so than the quests.

My non-game activity that I am trying to progress on is the decluttering of my basement. I'm not a crazy pack rat, but I do have a lot of junk that I really don't need and could probably do to get rid of. I've been working on it this week, trying to get at least 10 minutes of sorting and such done each day. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a noticeable dent in it.

I will also be taking time on Sunday to watch the Red Wings battle the Ducks. The game tonight was a good one and the series looks to be fun to watch.

Vigil80

05-01-2009, 11:11 PM

Titan Quest was a game which I was sad to miss the proverbial boat. It's such a solid game, but by the time I got to it, multiplayer seemed more or less gone.

If I still had a DS, I'd definitely give the mobile GTA a look. Seems like it might be back to that series' roots, which is interesting.

Satertek

05-01-2009, 11:36 PM

Made a list awhile back of games that I needed to go back and beat, so I'm working on that.

I beat Final Fantasy X last weekend, and started over Final Fantasy VIII (hadn't played in years, was only on disc 2 and couldn't remember what I was doing) using ePSXe, which looks pretty nice with the graphics cranked up and some shader effects. Jumping between that and FF XII both of which should last me a good while. Just hoping to beat em both before I get burned out on JRPGs again, heh. (Afterwards I'll knock off some of the FPSes before finishing FFVI and Chrono Trigger)

Also got some Left 4 Dead in on the trial. Fun game, but it doesn't hold my attention for too long, and has the downside of being a bit MMOish in that you can't really jump in the middle of or leave early during a campaign. And I've got that list of games that keeps me from buying anything new ;)

Generation ABXY

05-01-2009, 11:57 PM

So far, I'm not off to a good start. I was hoping to putz around in GTA IV's free mode - seriously, I think I've played like three matches in anything else - but I can't seem to connect (nor can the people on my friend's list, so it isn't just me). :(

Oh, well. If it isn't already, PES 2009 should be in the mail tomorrow, so I may have that to look forward to. If not, who knows, maybe I'll pick up GTA: Chinatown Wars.

KamaItachi

05-02-2009, 02:36 AM

Looking at clearing up some of my backlog.

Started up Mass Effect again. I think this is probably my most played title this generation, easily.

Will probably end up flicking between this and a few other titles I don't have a save for for my new gamer tag. Probably Bioshock, Banjo-Kazooie, Soul Calibur 4 and Dead Rising. Sometimes it just seems too much like work, so chances are I'll not play a large portion of my collection ever again :(

Gorvi

05-02-2009, 03:39 AM

I just beat Dead Head Fred, now that was fun. And I'm kinda disappointed the ending isn't on YouTube, because that was some funny shit. It looks like it opens up afterward so you can go back and do the side missions that you missed, so I may do some of that, but I'm strongly tempted to move on to my next portable game: Silent Hill Origins.

EDIT: And just to further pimp DHF, this is the launch trailer for the game, it deserves more attention.

24347

And the 10 minutes I was able to put into Silent Hill left me very impressed. Hell, just the opening song that plays when you run through the credits is fantastic.

menage

05-02-2009, 03:47 AM

I enjoyed the demo of Ninja Blade. I look forward to 6 months to a year from now when I can pick it up for $10. :)

I'm in that boat too. Seems like a really awesome summer blockbuster ride, that you only play once and maybe replay bits of. But at 20 or so that seems a far tastier prospect.

On a sidenote, I played PoP (the new one) last night. Fucking awesome game, they only need to fix the voiceacting of "da dude" and the randomness of the battles (as in, what the fuck am I supposed to do) and it would have been even more awesome, but I didn't expect to have so much fun with it. Looks gorgeous.

Spigot

05-02-2009, 06:30 AM

Hey, Nolan North did a fantastic job with The Prince! Sure, it was essentially Uncharted: Desert Adventure, but still...

Kelegacy

05-02-2009, 06:34 AM

SilentScreams

05-02-2009, 06:37 AM

Nuts & Bolts is on my rental playlist, but it's not near the top. It's probably one I'll get sent during a quiet period when there's nothing else to put on top of my list.

EternalGamer

05-02-2009, 07:12 AM

I need to tackle this eventually. I have only played a few hours of it thus far. I liked it, but I was also really bad at creating vehicles.

I was too, but I learned a few things that helped me:

1) Put the wheels further apart. If they are right next to each other you will spin out/flip over.

2) Don't make them too tall at first.

4) In general, the more engines you use, the heavier you want your vehicle to be.

5) Hunt showdown town for better vehicle parts. Once you get high grip wheels, things get much better.

I also love the water and air vehicle controls. Once I made a helicopter, I used it for almost all my regular transportation.

frederec

05-02-2009, 08:01 AM

Gentlemen, it is TIME.

I've loaded up SMT: Nocturne on my PS2, and by god, this time I am going to finish it!

Always remember: Bright Might if your friend.

astranoir

05-02-2009, 08:36 AM

I picked up Uncharted and Sam & Max Season 1 this week, so I'll be playing those a bit over the weekend. I'll also still be applying to jobs ::sigh::

Spigot

05-02-2009, 08:55 AM

Always remember: Bright Might if your friend.And don't forget to give the Matador a hug for me!

Purple Santa

05-02-2009, 11:06 AM

My lord.

Is anyone else out there playing Ninja Blade? This game is so over the top stupidly fun I can't stop grinning while I play it. I mean, I just had a missile shot at me and then I rode it around and aimed it back at the guy who shot it.

I had this on my game radar for a rental but had to take it off due to other stuff taking priority. I'll add this to the rent later backlog now...
I meant you can just have it. I beat it tonight, might try to get a few more achievements. It wasn't bad, but some areas have TONS of bad guys. Wave after wave. It got annoying. Just hide and snipe until they go away.

Thanks!!
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts: My relationship with this game started out rocky. I bought it on release because of a deal on Amazon where I got it for $35 w/ the XBLA Banjo Kazooie for free, but after playing it for a few hours, I wasn't feeling it. I missed the traditional platforming of the old games and didn't like the vechile controls.

About five months later, I've picked it back up and it has become one of my favorite gaming experiences in recent memory. I started, oddly enough, by avoiding the vehicle stuff altogether and just spent several hours exploring and collecting notes and vehicle parts in the game's overworld. But collecting those vehicle parts gave me lots of cool new stuff to experiment with and once I learned a few basic rules for designing vehicles, I started really enjoying the vehicle segments too.

I've heard a number of gamers have almost the same exact experience with BK:N&B. I'm hoping when I do go back to it, I have the same experience. I really want to enjoy the game but I know I need learn to appreciate the vehicle making more before I do.

Been bogged down with Lux Pain. I know now why they have PAIN in the title. It's well deserved. Fighting some of the "bosses" or Silent as they are referenced in the game require stylus tapping that I rarely have seen on my DS. Only TWEWY comes close to me having hand cramp in pain as LP has. I'm hoping the screen on my DSi holds up to the punishment. And i'm only on day 10...the calender shows 31 days...how much harder do the Silent get? Spigot, what the hell did you get me into? The bizarre plot continues to impress though...so the possibility to permanent hand damage might be worth it...

Spigot

05-02-2009, 11:12 AM

Been bogged down with Lux Pain. I know now why they have PAIN in the title. It's well deserved. Fighting some of the "bosses" or Silent as they are referenced in the game require stylus tapping that I rarely have seen on my DS. Only TWEWY comes close to me having hand cramp in pain as LP has. I'm hoping the screen on my DSi holds up to the punishment. And i'm only on day 10...the calender shows 31 days...how much harder do the Silent get? Spigot, what the hell did you get me into? The bizarre plot continues to impress though...so the possibility to permanent hand damage might be worth it...Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Just wait until you get to some of the later Silent that have you stretching flaps open to each corner. When you have one that throws combination of all three Silents at you... blarg. I almost gave up then, esp. against the 'end' boss (at least the end one for Chapter 19, which is where my game finished).

It is a great WTF kind of plot much akin to TWEWY (though nowhere near as subtle and awesome as TWEWY's plot) but enjoyable nonetheless. Again, with a proper translation and localization, it could have been one of those games I'd never take out of my collection.

Purple Santa

05-02-2009, 11:30 AM

Oh yeah. Sorry about that. Just wait until you get to some of the later Silent that have you stretching flaps open to each corner. When you have one that throws combination of all three Silents at you... blarg. I almost gave up then, esp. against the 'end' boss (at least the end one for Chapter 19, which is where my game finished).

It is a great WTF kind of plot much akin to TWEWY (though nowhere near as subtle and awesome as TWEWY's plot) but enjoyable nonetheless. Again, with a proper translation and localization, it could have been one of those games I'd never take out of my collection.

I met the one with the stretched corners. That only took me two tries. I was at the Silent with the double health bar as I call it. Green color bar over the usual blue bar. Meanwhile, my pittance health bar stays the same AND the whatever the Silent is shooting at you that you need to tap to destroy...now has a glass protection you must break. So tap a few hundred times, break the glass, tap some more to kill whatever it is i'm tapping....have it turn white..then slash a few times to finally kill it off. I almost did give up. It was beating me so bad I didn't think I had a chance. At least the game gives you the option of replaying the Silent again...I just closed my DS and came back later. I'm not looking forward to the later Silents then.

Btw..is it worth to try to get the alternate ending? Not sure if that is a "good" ending or not...at this point I'm thinking i'll be lucky I don't toss my DSi across the room by the end of the game...

Spigot

05-02-2009, 11:39 AM

Btw..is it worth to try to get the alternate ending? Not sure if that is a "good" ending or not...at this point I'm thinking i'll be lucky I don't toss my DSi across the room by the end of the game...It is 2 more chapters after the 'good' ending. Supposedly there's the 'bad' ending, which is essentially the Game Over screen you get in Chapter 8-9ish when you have to find that Silent. The 'Good' ending is the one you get in Chapter 19 if you don't get the one Silent in Chapter 16... you know, the one where you have no way of knowing that it's there or that you have to take it down RIGHT THEN or else it effectively locks you into the 'good' ending. I did that.

From what I read, the last two chapters look pretty neat. It just means that an event that happens because you DIDN'T get that one Silent in chapter 16 doesn't happen and certain characters live a little longer and a few characters who are introduced near the end of the game actually get fleshed out more, deeper conspiracies are unearthed, etc. It seems pretty snazzy but not worth having to replay the entire game again to see them. It's essentially the 'TRUE' ending to the game.

Doogie2K

05-02-2009, 11:54 AM

Started up Mass Effect again. I think this is probably my most played title this generation, easily.

It's my first time through, but I can see the appeal of going through and seeing how you can do things differently, even though I can easily see myself just doing the same things again and just going to experience the changes in combat. How are you attacking it this time? (Bearing in mind this is my first playthrough, so no spoilers.)

My Sins buddy and I made an interesting discovery last night (which I'm sure many of the Sins vets have also figured out by now, with Entrenchment being out for a bit): at least as the Advent, you can use mines offensively in large fleet battles. We had wiped out the computer players, so we decided to turn on each other. After I got soundly trounced in the first battle and had to rebuild from scratch (the subtle reminder that focus fire actually isn't the best idea in a large fleet engagement, and also that one should never try to engage a fleet of similar size near a hostile starbase), I was somehow able to rebuild my hundredish-ship fleet, just in time to meet my friend on the opposite side of the map, one planet from my homeworld.

After a few feints and tricks involving phantom Illuminators, we finally started having it out in a war of attrition. It wasn't looking too good for me, because he had the numerical advantage and I didn't think I was going to be able to speed up my pipeline enough to win out. I got the desperate thought that I might be able to use the minelayer I'd picked up on my way through my empire to slow him down, so I started throwing mines around the edges and middle of the battlefield. It took a few minutes, and converting a couple of my Hangar Defences to mine production, but sure enough, it worked, and he started to retreat, but the best part was that as he was retreating, there were a bunch of leftover mines, by chance, between him and the space lane. Kaboom go most of the remaining capital ships. He admits defeat, and that cutting off our trade hurt him more than it hurt me, and that he didn't have the resources to rebuild nor to try replicating that tactic (all those mines start to get expensive). I followed him and routed his surviving fleet, and we called it a night. It might just be the first time I've actually won a strategy game on the basis of tactics rather than sheer numbers, so it was a very proud moment.

Edit: He was game to start another round of Sins after that, but I wanted to switch games, so after briefly flirting with Red Alert 3, we settled on Civ IV. We've both got Warlords and Beyond the Sword, so I'll be installing that, and we might be starting a game on Sunday.

Doogie2K

05-02-2009, 12:00 PM

MagGnome

05-02-2009, 01:55 PM

Oh, and I put an offer on a house tonight. It's actually pretty damn cute. We're the first offer and they have until tomorrow night. Some people aren't even viewing the place until Monday! So hopefully we get it while it's hot. New to the market and we like to jump all over those. I love the quiet, dead-end street and neighborhood. I can lay in the road and take a nap if I wanted.

Good luck! I'm still waiting to hear back on the house I placed an offer on. It's a short sale and the seller is currently out of town, so it could be a while before I find out anything. I'm hoping it's not too much longer, as I'd like to start moving at the beginning of July.

I haven't done any gaming yet this weekend. Last night I went to dinner with friends and then we saw Obsessed. It was actually pretty good! It was very intense, especially towards the end, and my friends and I were on the edge of our seats. We were also the only guys there other than two men who had obviously been dragged by their wives. :p

I'm thinking about installing Oblivion and giving that a go. I've had it for a couple months now, and I'd like to finally try it out.

Kelegacy

05-02-2009, 02:20 PM

Good luck! I'm still waiting to hear back on the house I placed an offer on. It's a short sale and the seller is currently out of town, so it could be a while before I find out anything. I'm hoping it's not too much longer, as I'd like to start moving at the beginning of July.

I haven't done any gaming yet this weekend. Last night I went to dinner with friends and then we saw Obsessed. It was actually pretty good! It was very intense, especially towards the end, and my friends and I were on the edge of our seats. We were also the only guys there other than two men who had obviously been dragged by their wives. :p

I'm thinking about installing Oblivion and giving that a go. I've had it for a couple months now, and I'd like to finally try it out.

They accepted our offer this morning. There was a slight change to the contract, meaning the seller wanted an extra week to move, but on Monday morning we need to get to the bank to submit our P&S Agreement. Possibly even have an inspector come out on Monday. I don't foresee any issues, unless the bank balks. When we had to pull out of our last home, our preapproval disappeared because the loan became live. Our loan officers have been working on getting everything back in place and it sounds just fine. They're good people.

Maybe I'll post some pictures later, but I don't want to jinx it.

Spigot

05-02-2009, 02:53 PM

Congrats, Kel! It's about time you moved out of that cardboard box and into something more sturdy!

On a more gaming related note, I splurged and took my son out to get Excite Bots for the Wii as I've heard good things about it, mainly that it is even better than Excite Truck, which is one of my favourite games of the last few years.

Just based on the brief time I spent with it, all I can say is, "How awesome is Excite Bots? SO awesome!"

It's basically the insane, over-the-top tricks and crazy air of Excite Trucks but taken to 11. The bots transform and can do all sorts of wacky things while they race, plus you have the old standby of terrain deformation if you get a little bored.

Definately worth the $40.

Evil Avnovice

05-02-2009, 02:58 PM

How much harder do the Silent get?

The silent that require you to break whatever's covering it's weak spots, and the one where you need to open up its weak spots by pulling flaps to all four corners are the tough ones.

And then there are a rare few that combine all three....

MagGnome

05-02-2009, 03:04 PM

I'm really excited for you Kel! Be sure to post pics when all is said and done. :)

Spigot - How many games is that now? 20...30? :p

Purple Santa

05-02-2009, 03:05 PM

On a sidenote, I played PoP (the new one) last night. Fucking awesome game, they only need to fix the voiceacting of "da dude" and the randomness of the battles (as in, what the fuck am I supposed to do) and it would have been even more awesome, but I didn't expect to have so much fun with it. Looks gorgeous.
I hated the battles in the beginning. I learned through much trial and error (much screaming at the tv too) how to make the battles manageable. This was one of the reason I hated the DLC...I thought the mini-bosses/bosses were more difficult...making it over the top frustrating for me. In the main game, it was frustrating just enough to keep me going. As for the voice acting...I was expecting Elika to begin sounding like Sulley at any moment. I thought it would of been a great voice gag :)
It is 2 more chapters after the 'good' ending. Supposedly there's the 'bad' ending, which is essentially the Game Over screen you get in Chapter 8-9ish when you have to find that Silent. The 'Good' ending is the one you get in Chapter 19 if you don't get the one Silent in Chapter 16... you know, the one where you have no way of knowing that it's there or that you have to take it down RIGHT THEN or else it effectively locks you into the 'good' ending. I did that.

From what I read, the last two chapters look pretty neat. It just means that an event that happens because you DIDN'T get that one Silent in chapter 16 doesn't happen and certain characters live a little longer and a few characters who are introduced near the end of the game actually get fleshed out more, deeper conspiracies are unearthed, etc. It seems pretty snazzy but not worth having to replay the entire game again to see them. It's essentially the 'TRUE' ending to the game.
Let me get this straight...the "bad" ending is in episode 8? The game isn't even really over in episode 8. Granted, I thought it a bit odd that I saw a "game over" screen...but I just thought it was due to this being a very odd game. Who would stop there? Interesting idea for a "bad" ending. I think i'll try to keep episode 16 saved separately just in case I don't get the Silent that is almost impossible to find. I'm on episode 13 now. Eventually i'll put this down to play something else...

KamaItachi

05-02-2009, 03:10 PM

It's my first time through, but I can see the appeal of going through and seeing how you can do things differently, even though I can easily see myself just doing the same things again and just going to experience the changes in combat. How are you attacking it this time? (Bearing in mind this is my first playthrough, so no spoilers.)

This time I'm going straight soldier Male paragon. I have an idea of what way I want my Shepard for ME2, if the rumours of using your saved game are true. But to get that I need to get certain achievements that I've missed previously. I also have never really played through it as a male.

For me Shepard will always be female.

Spigot

05-02-2009, 03:15 PM

Spigot - How many games is that now? 20...30? :pI said FULL priced games. I've spent more on a DS game recently!

And it's for my kids.

And it's on the Wii, so it's not a REAL game.

And... And...

I still contend that MadWorld is about the only REAL (ie. $50-60) game I've purchased with real money this year.

The rest have been purchased with a combination of store credit and chicanery.

And Shepard will always be female in my ME universe too.

Doogie2K

05-02-2009, 04:06 PM

This time I'm going straight soldier Male paragon. I have an idea of what way I want my Shepard for ME2, if the rumours of using your saved game are true. But to get that I need to get certain achievements that I've missed previously. I also have never really played through it as a male.

For me Shepard will always be female.

Yeah, my Shepard is a female Adept, as I've mentioned, but I think if I were to do a second playthrough, I'd do a male Soldier, because of the difference in the combat (seems like it'd be a little Gears-lite with a skill tree). I'd like to play through the actual story a bit differently, but I'm not sure how, because despite my efforts to be just slightly more of a bitch, it sort of goes against my instincts. I have equal Paragon and Renegade points right now, thanks mostly to the optional side quests on Feros, but I'm gonna see if I can't get a few more Renegade points by going after -- and killing -- the organ harvester Garrius mentioned before I left for Feros, because it fits with the more ruthless backstory I gave her. I guess I just see my Shepard as being capable of doing cold things, but for the right reasons, thus reconciling why she'd help the Feros colonials while also being willing to shoot Dr. Heart in the face, should the option present itself.

Purple Santa

05-02-2009, 04:35 PM

Gorvi

05-02-2009, 05:14 PM

I said FULL priced games. I've spent more on a DS game recently!

And it's for my kids.

And it's on the Wii, so it's not a REAL game.

And... And...

I still contend that MadWorld is about the only REAL (ie. $50-60) game I've purchased with real money this year.

The rest have been purchased with a combination of store credit and chicanery.
I think you just hit an excuse gold mine. I could probably buy half of what's on the Virtual Console and claim it's part of a history lesson for the kids. :D Our oldest is still only 2, but he loves watching some games already. :)

Today I played Resod Half The Back Yard. The results are great, but the grind can be painful to get there. :o

Kelegacy

05-02-2009, 05:17 PM

I played some more Soldier of Fortune Payback today. Still not great or even close, but I'm getting better at it. Sometimes I just need a cheap mindless FPS.

I also went back to Best Buy today and bought Universe at War and Turning Point for 360 for $10 each. I heard Universe at War got initial bad reviews for technical issues but a patch was released and fixes things. I'm not a big strategy gamer but I figure I might as well grab it. Turning Point is just another cheap FPS purchase for when I need my fix. Good or bad, I don't always care when it comes to bargain FPSs.

MagGnome

05-02-2009, 05:38 PM

I said FULL priced games. I've spent more on a DS game recently!

And it's for my kids.

And it's on the Wii, so it's not a REAL game.

And... And...

I still contend that MadWorld is about the only REAL (ie. $50-60) game I've purchased with real money this year.

The rest have been purchased with a combination of store credit and chicanery.

And Shepard will always be female in my ME universe too.

Damn, I'm blown away by your attempt to justify your gaming addiction. :p

You good sir...would of made a brilliant accountant the way you play with finances and how you define "spending" :D

Agreed!

Remember that we are just ribbing you Spigot. :D

I think I'm going to stay in tonight, get some Chinese, watch a movie, and maybe install Oblivion. I went out Thursday and Friday night and did a crazy amount of flirting. I'm starting to feel like an old perv, so I think I need a night in to calm down and relax.

KamaItachi

05-02-2009, 05:38 PM

Yeah, my Shepard is a female Adept, as I've mentioned, but I think if I were to do a second playthrough, I'd do a male Soldier, because of the difference in the combat (seems like it'd be a little Gears-lite with a skill tree). I'd like to play through the actual story a bit differently, but I'm not sure how, because despite my efforts to be just slightly more of a bitch, it sort of goes against my instincts. I have equal Paragon and Renegade points right now, thanks mostly to the optional side quests on Feros, but I'm gonna see if I can't get a few more Renegade points by going after -- and killing -- the organ harvester Garrius mentioned before I left for Feros, because it fits with the more ruthless backstory I gave her. I guess I just see my Shepard as being capable of doing cold things, but for the right reasons, thus reconciling why she'd help the Feros colonials while also being willing to shoot Dr. Heart in the face, should the option present itself.

I really like how ME allows you to Roleplay your character and the choices for a lot of the encounters are often more than straight evil/good. You can play certain uances, like being totally corrupt, but never hurt innoccents, or xenophobic but essentially good.

I also liked the side stories given to you from your team members. I also need to spend more time with garrus and get his achievement, but its far too tempting to just go with Wrex every time.

rein

05-02-2009, 05:48 PM

They accepted our offer this morning...

Dude, that is awesome. Good luck and hope it goes smoothly.

I finished playing Working on Saturday and damned if it didn't take longer than expected. Plus, I worked my ass off. I'm actually achy and tired. It didn't help that a thunderstorm woke me up at 4am this morning. A kick ass thunderstorm that almost blinded me when I happened to peak out of the window shade at the exact moment lightning struck the field behind my house. Blinding!

I'm going to take it easy for an hour or two while I choose between Valkyrie Chronicles or Culdcept Saga. I plan to choose one and stick with it this time. I'm tired of starting games over when I go back to play them because I hate re-acquainting myself with a game midway through.

jpublic

05-02-2009, 06:34 PM

And don't forget to give the Matador a hug for me!

I've killed Matador about 12 times in my various attempts on this game. I know his Fu, he is nothing to me now.

Variable Gear

05-02-2009, 07:13 PM

Disclaimer: I realize that the readers of this forum are unable to read game titles that aren't in bold, and my post was written with this in mind. You can thank me for this whenever it is most convenient for you.

I spent the final three hours of Friday and the first six hours of Saturday playing Final Fantasy XII. The License Board is still a major issue contributing to a lack of characterization, even though I've unlocked some of the Esper spaces. In addition, Gambits remain a constant headache. I still lack the necessary Gambit Targets to craft the lines of logic to clear status effects. I continue to be impressed how poorly Gambits were presented to the public before launch. Gambits are unable to prevent the specter of repetition from entering into the experience. The game also requires a fair bit of grinding in order to acquire new equipment. When I finally made it to the Phon Coast, after a number of hours, I immediately quit playing after I realized how much gil the game designers expected me to spend on the next tier of weapons and armor.

Hours later, I completed my fourth run through of the Lhusu Mines. With hundreds of thousands of gil in my wallet, and seventy-five fresh podcasts remaining on my iPod, I teleported back to the Phon Coast and outfitted my party with Diamond Armor, Astrakhan Hats, Dragon Shields and Hammerhead Axes. I then proceeded to slice through the monsters that separated me from Archadia. Entering the Sochen Cave palace, I reflected on the story I heard from an Archadian child as I moved through the Tchita Uplands. In this cave, there was rumored to be a mark unlike any other. No hunter had returned after tracking it to its hideout. I was worried what I would find, but, upon entering the Hall of Lambent Darkness, a humorous cutscene played. As I reflected on the lack of interactivity offered by cutscenes my party was struck down by the dark horde. Upon loading my save, I vowed to avenge my most recent loss of time. This time, things were different. My party survived, apart from Ashe, who died while attempting to make use of the Esper Belias. The Mandragoras had been defeated.

I then fell asleep at 6:37 AM Central Time and woke up thirty minutes ago. I guess I needed the rest...

Evil Avnovice

05-02-2009, 07:18 PM

VARIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABLLLLLLLLLE GEAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

But please, feel free to not say hello. :)

rein

05-02-2009, 07:30 PM

I also went back to Best Buy today and bought Universe at War and Turning Point for 360 for $10 each. I heard Universe at War got initial bad reviews for technical issues but a patch was released and fixes things. I'm not a big strategy gamer but I figure I might as well grab it.

It looks like Best Buy has restocked some of the bargain titles. I had to run to Target and because I read your post I ran into BB since it was in the same shopping center. They had one copy of Universe at War and I grabbed it. I think another guy wanted it after I picked it up because he tried to steer me away from it. He looked disappointed when I held on to it.

EternalGamer

05-02-2009, 07:30 PM

[QUOTE=Purple Santa;248825]I've heard a number of gamers have almost the same exact experience with BK:N&B. I'm hoping when I do go back to it, I have the same experience. I really want to enjoy the game but I know I need learn to appreciate the vehicle making more before I do.[quote]

I've heard a number of gamers have almost the same exact experience with BK:N&B. I'm hoping when I do go back to it, I have the same experience. I really want to enjoy the game but I know I need learn to appreciate the vehicle making more before I do.

They really did themselves a disservice with the way they handled the first few hours of the game. They give you crappy wheels (always a bad idea to hamper the player with bad controls at the beginning) and all the blue prints they give you are pretty terrible too. What is worse, they really don't make it clear what you need to do to fix your vehicles. There are few hints you can catch on the load screens, but that's a pretty sloppy way to introduce the player to information and they might not even see those slides for some time. I think they should have just forgone the first set of upgrades (regular wheels, small engines etc.) and just started you with midlevel stuff.

Then again, part of it may just also be a natural learning curb. I've noticed that I've trained myself not to EVER jam on the gas unless I have a clear straight away and all wheels firmly planted.

Regardless, all those growing pains are over for me now, though, I played this for the majority of the day today (it's my calm before the storm as next week I will be grading 90 essays and 60 exams) and I made a thoroughly enjoyable Saturday out of it. I'm not up to 84 Jiggies (out of 130) and have 700/1000 of the achievement points. There are another 100 points or so that should be pretty easy to get.

I'm glad they didn't put a lot of emphasis on multiplayer achievements. Unfortunately, the lobbies are almost always empty. I got lucky to night because three people showed up after about four minutes of waiting in a lobby (one of them had the "play with a Rare member" achievement, so I got that one), but I doubt it will be possible to find games on any regular basis. Ashame too, because this is probably the closest thing to "Diddy Kong Racing" we will probably ever see on Xbox Live.

I'm looking forward into digging back into Banjo Tooie next (which I never finished on the N64). I'm really going to miss Rare when they meet their inevitable demise. It's clear they aren't able to find their audience for their games on a Microsoft platform and that really sucks. I don't want bright, colorful mascot type games with goofy humor to disappear to leave me only soldiers and space marines. It's a problem MS has had since entering the console market and I can't imagine they are going to continue trying to make this type of game successfully when virtually none of their efforts have paid off.

EternalGamer

05-02-2009, 07:54 PM

It looks like Best Buy has restocked some of the bargain titles. I had to run to Target and because I read your post I ran into BB since it was in the same shopping center. They had one copy of Universe at War and I grabbed it. I think another guy wanted it after I picked it up because he tried to steer me away from it. He looked disappointed when I held on to it.

I picked up Hell Boy and Silent Hill for the 360 during this sale but haven't played either yet. Hell Boy didn't get great reviews but it is by Krome Studios (the guys who did Ty the Tasmanian Tiger) and I haven't played a action beat em up in quite some time, so I thought it was worth a try for $10. Krome studios, while not an amazing company, have demonstrated themselves to be pretty solid.

I thought about picking up one of the two Disney platformers for the 360 that were $10 (Bolt and Ratatouie), but I looked at the reviews and they were abysmal. Also, I didn't want to be confused for a pediophile like Kelegacy.

Purple Santa

05-02-2009, 09:15 PM

Today I played Resod Half The Back Yard. The results are great, but the grind can be painful to get there. :o
Why only half? Or is this a game where you put on the famous Gorvi backlog for a few years ;)

@Spigot: Did you hear anything about the promotion yet?

Also, made it to episode 16 in Lux Pain. I want the "better" ending so stopping for the night and will obsessively look for the invisible Silent tomorrow. Now back to GoW II ...

Spigot

05-02-2009, 10:33 PM

@Spigot: Did you hear anything about the promotion yet?

Also, made it to episode 16 in Lux Pain. I want the "better" ending so stopping for the night and will obsessively look for the invisible Silent tomorrow. Now back to GoW II ...Nah, nothing yet. It is the weekend though. No rush. I've waited 5 months for the interview so I can stew for another day or two.

Had a fun night tonight. Friends came over and we watched a lot of episodes of Phineas & Ferb and then I showed them Bit.Trip.Beat, Excite Bots and MadWorld. The multiplayer in MadWorld is actually quite fun, esp. for people who have had zero exposure to the game, in either previews, reviews or seeing it in action. They didn't have a clue what to expect and then bam. Dude's stuck in a jet turbine and blood goes everywhere. Suffice it to say, hilarity ensued.

Bit.Trip.Beat's multiplayer, on the other hand, is awful. It's essentially co-op with extra paddles on the screen but all that does is add another layer of distraction to an already distracting game.

I'm going to go do some singleplayer races in Excite Bots for a bit before bed. I should hit the hay now but I'm kind of zinging on coffee. Must unlock the mouse!

Oh, and with regard to Lux Pain, make sure you talk to the nurse. A lot. You've been warned.

Purple Santa

05-02-2009, 11:19 PM

Oh, and with regard to Lux Pain, make sure you talk to the nurse. A lot. You've been warned.

If I was smart I would of stayed playing LP. To the developers of GoW II, go fuck yourselves. Seriously. I expect a challenge. Even when i'm playing on easy. However, there is a certain amount of fairness that I believe goes into playing on easy. Allowing me to upgrade my weapons which throughout most of the game proved useful except for the last 1/3 of the game...really sucks. Thanks for that "challenge". So the enemies get to be bigger, faster and better weapons. I get pseudo upgraded weapons which suddenly aren't affective. Again, go fuck yourselves. Also, go fuck yourselves making half this game timing puzzles. It was challenging in old Tomb Raider games. That was actually fun. But please look at a calender. It's 2009 not 1999. I wouldn't buy GoW III if it was in a discount bin for $1.99. (Note: I gave up in the Underground level, pushing a statue fighting off flames and killing off enemies that come in waves and won't die to easily)

Spigot

05-03-2009, 05:33 AM

Man, Purple. I've never heard of people having such problems in GoW2... You remind me of Agentgray, who was bitching to me the other day about being utterly frustrated when starting up his trial account of WoW. You guys are weird.

I'm utterly addicted to Excite Bots, though getting S-rankings on even some of the early tracks is going to be haaaaard!

Gorvi

05-03-2009, 05:48 AM

Why only half? Or is this a game where you put on the famous Gorvi backlog for a few years ;)
Oh, hell no. Thankfully the rest of the yard is just fine, we just had a bad patch. And it wasn't half, it was just a corner, but damn if 600 sq feet of yard doesn't feel like a lot.
If I was smart I would of stayed playing LP. To the developers of GoW II, go fuck yourselves. Seriously. I expect a challenge. Even when i'm playing on easy. However, there is a certain amount of fairness that I believe goes into playing on easy. Allowing me to upgrade my weapons which throughout most of the game proved useful except for the last 1/3 of the game...really sucks. Thanks for that "challenge". So the enemies get to be bigger, faster and better weapons. I get pseudo upgraded weapons which suddenly aren't affective. Again, go fuck yourselves. Also, go fuck yourselves making half this game timing puzzles. It was challenging in old Tomb Raider games. That was actually fun. But please look at a calender. It's 2009 not 1999. I wouldn't buy GoW III if it was in a discount bin for $1.99. (Note: I gave up in the Underground level, pushing a statue fighting off flames and killing off enemies that come in waves and won't die to easily)
Wow, man, that's rough. I don't remember having any of those problems, the worst part I had on my first playthrough (if I'm remembering this right) was beating the Sisters of the Fates. Now they sucked. But even playing through again earlier this year on Hard I didn't have any problems. Of course, I only just made it past Atlas I think, so I'm not nearly done with it, but it still wasn't bad. We need to hold a GoWII Support Meeting for ya or something. ;)

And on the GoW subject, I tried the God of War: Wolverine demo last night. :p Well, it may as well be called that, because other than some tweaks making the combat simpler, that's what it is. I can easily see getting that for cheap later on, it wasn't fantastic, but it was good dumb fun.

That, and I loaded up my Oblivion save last night and proceeded to play for 3 hours. I think I'm going to finish the game this time. ;)

Oh, and some Motorstorm. Stupid AI kicking my ass..... *grumble*

Spigot

05-03-2009, 06:00 AM

I would really like to try some Wolverine. I hear it's oodles of fun.

Gorvi

05-03-2009, 06:06 AM

I would really like to try some Wolverine. I hear it's oodles of fun.
Grab the demo, it's on XBL and the UK PSN.

MagGnome

05-03-2009, 08:10 AM

Purple Santa

05-03-2009, 08:11 AM

Man, Purple. I've never heard of people having such problems in GoW2... You remind me of Agentgray, who was bitching to me the other day about being utterly frustrated when starting up his trial account of WoW. You guys are weird.

Wow, man, that's rough. I don't remember having any of those problems, the worst part I had on my first playthrough (if I'm remembering this right) was beating the Sisters of the Fates. Now they sucked. But even playing through again earlier this year on Hard I didn't have any problems. Of course, I only just made it past Atlas I think, so I'm not nearly done with it, but it still wasn't bad. We need to hold a GoWII Support Meeting for ya or something. ;)

The oddity of this love/hate thing I have going on with GoW II is I loved the first and the PSP game. I'm just not feeling it with this game. There is so much of it I really do like...but some minor parts that are starting to bug me. Don't get me started with rolling Kratos. The rolling function for me with Kratos is almost useless. That is part of the problem with timed puzzles...the fastest way to move sometimes is rolling. It's small stuff like that...and another example is the hesitation when trying particular weapon moves when being barraged by enemies...just making it annoying enough for me to become frustrated. Sometimes games just don't click with everyone. I think that's me with this game. I still feel FU to the developers however...but i'm putting away GoW II for a bit. Before I break my dual shock controller in two. If anyone wonders if you can snap one in two...yeah, I think it's possible. I'm just not finding the "challenging" parts particularly fair. In GoW I, the parts that drove most insane (i'm thinking the large tower with the blades spinning as you made your way up that) at least left you with the impression it was fair..and doable. Just not feeling that with this game at times. Which means I need a break from it :)

@Gorvi with re-sodding: The only re-sodding I wish to be doing is when I pick up a Viva Pinata game :p

Made it to episode 18 in Lux Pain. I took your advice Spigot with episode 16. I think I found what you needed to do with the nurse. I did get a Silent out of her. Let's hope that was it. And episode 17...very uplifting :(. Now to the end! Down with the evil that plagues this land..well the evil in Lux Pain anyway...

rein

05-03-2009, 08:47 AM

Last night was extremely uneventful. I ate some delicious takeout, watched 48 Hours Mystery, then the local news, which I've only seen a few times. Towards the end of that I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up a short while later and went to bed. 10:45 on a Saturday night - yep I'm old!

Still no gaming - it's been well over a week now since I last played anything.

I ended up watching 48 Hour Mystery too. It came on after Harper's Island and for whatever reason I became engrossed in the story. I was a little surprised how easily the couple was fooled. Looking at the three men who went out on the cruise to buy the boat, I would have been hesitant to take them without more people. They looked a bit thuggish.

MagGnome

05-03-2009, 08:53 AM

I ended up watching 48 Hour Mystery too. It came on after Harper's Island and for whatever reason I became engrossed in the story. I was a little surprised how easily the couple was fooled. Looking at the three men who went out on the cruise to buy the boat, I would have been hesitant to take them without more people. They looked a bit thuggish.

I'd actually seen that exact case on there a few months back. It wasn't a rerun though per se, as they redid the entire episode with a lot more information this time. The main perpetrator had also been sentenced to death in that time, so of course they had that update.

It was interesting seeing the same case on there again but with a lot of new information.

I feel really bad for that couple. They probably should have been more careful, but it sounds like they were very trusting, good people. They died in such a horrific way.

JayK47

05-03-2009, 09:05 AM

Viking: Battle for Assgard ;) - A lot more fun that I expected it to be. Reviews did not do it justice.

Dark Sector - Another game with zombies. Boo. I am only able to play this game for an hour or so at a time. The reviews did do it justice.

Legendary - I think the game is literally broken. Stay away. Stay far away from this steaming pile.

Spigot

05-03-2009, 10:01 AM

Made it to episode 18 in Lux Pain. I took your advice Spigot with episode 16. I think I found what you needed to do with the nurse. I did get a Silent out of her. Let's hope that was it. And episode 17...very uplifting :(. Now to the end! Down with the evil that plagues this land..well the evil in Lux Pain anyway...
I still don't know what you're having problems with in GoW2. The only frustrating part I recall from that game is going down the big long corridor/ramp to get to the big fat Fate sister (I forget which of them it was).

As for Lux Pain, good job. You did the right thing and should get the 'true' ending now. Just be warned that the 'boss' at the end of Episode 19 is a pain in the arse.

MagGnome

05-03-2009, 10:03 AM

I just ordered 4GB of RAM for my computer. I have 1GB now, so I should see a big increase in performance, woohoo! :D

Doogie2K

05-03-2009, 10:20 AM

I really like how ME allows you to Roleplay your character and the choices for a lot of the encounters are often more than straight evil/good. You can play certain uances, like being totally corrupt, but never hurt innoccents, or xenophobic but essentially good.

Yeah, I liked the early mission where you find out why a soldier's body is being held back from her widower, because of how many shades of handling it, not all of them effective, there are. The first time, I tried to play it neutral, and it didn't work, but the second time:

I went with roughing up the bureaucrat but telling the widower, "look buddy, this is more important, deal." Funny enough, Ashley then jumped in and helped convince him. That was cool.

I also liked the side stories given to you from your team members. I also need to spend more time with garrus and get his achievement, but its far too tempting to just go with Wrex every time.

One of Ashley's early stories about her little sister made me chuckle, because despite the seriousness of the situation described, the ultimate response kind of reminded me of the story of my mom, as a teen, one-punching her d-bag ex in front of all his friends (and, as she learned years later, her mom, who was quietly proud). He was nice as pie to her afterward. :) But yeah, the stories also allow me to explore different facets to my Shepard's personality. I just randomly decided during that same conversation that even though I'm not personally religious, my Shepard can be, and it can be perfectly consistent with her character if I think about it for a minute or two; it was a choice that "felt" right, even though it was something I'd given exactly zero thought to prior, and I liked that.

menage

05-03-2009, 11:08 AM

Viking: Battle for Assgard ;) - A lot more fun that I expected it to be. Reviews did not do it justice.

I played this the last couple of days. I quite like it, it's a bit repetitive though, mainly because the combat isn't that varied. I do like the liberating aspect of it, and the dragons. Sound design is weak though, sound effects cue in too late or not at all, almost no music, weak effects.

I also played Banjo with the GF for a couple of hours. Playing this with somebody is more fun than on my own. Stellar looking game though, and underestimated as a game when you hit the more original challenges.

rinichanraar

05-03-2009, 12:05 PM

I actually restarted it, after reaching the 7th chapter on the Normal difficulty, so that it would be more challenging and more of a 'survival' horror game. I just don't want to play it during the day and my nights have been short lately. I need a good weekend with nothing do to so I can stay up all night and finish it.

I haven't picked it up at all this weekend, just because I've been busy, but hopefully, I don't end up stopping in the middle of the game. I always have trouble finishing a campaign when I haven't played in a long time.

Yeah, daytime Deadspace isn't really the way to go. Utter Darkness and cranked up sound is pure awesome though. Probably the best game I played this year, hope there's a sequel in the works.
Dead Space needs to be played at night with all the lights off. Even better if you have a pair of headphones. The music/sounds make the game. It's not scary..but as you said..creepy. And it stays creepy. As long as you don't expect big scares...it's an awesome experience. The details of the environment, the visuals added to the creepiness for sure too.

I've been hearing this since Dead Space first came out. When I played the first chapter, it was at night, but I had the lights on because I was by myself. I get creeped out way too easily! I will try it that way next time, though.

I picked up Uncharted and Sam & Max Season 1 this week, so I'll be playing those a bit over the weekend. I'll also still be applying to jobs ::sigh::

I've been hating this whole job application process recently, too. It's so depressing.

On the bright side, though, you're playing Uncharted! That's probably one of my favorite games, for sure for PS3. I know some people were a put off by the heavy shootouts and wanted more complex platforming, but I didn't mind at all (most likely because I'm better at shooters than platformers). Nathan and Sully are just so fun.

EternalGamer

05-03-2009, 12:45 PM

I played this the last couple of days. I quite like it, it's a bit repetitive though, mainly because the combat isn't that varied. I do like the liberating aspect of it, and the dragons. Sound design is weak though, sound effects cue in too late or not at all, almost no music, weak effects.

I also played Banjo with the GF for a couple of hours. Playing this with somebody is more fun than on my own. Stellar looking game though, and underestimated as a game when you hit the more original challenges.

Are you referring to the original Banjo on XBLA? It's a pretty cool game, but Tooie is MUCH better. A lot more variety and less collection oriented. It's more of an adventure game with internconnected worlds and has a better sense of humor.

The only reason I didn't like it that much on the N64 was because there was a ton of slowdown and it was choppy and very blurry. All those problems are now fixed on the XBLA version.

menage

05-03-2009, 01:24 PM

Are you referring to the original Banjo on XBLA? It's a pretty cool game, but Tooie is MUCH better. A lot more variety and less collection oriented. It's more of an adventure game with internconnected worlds and has a better sense of humor.

The only reason I didn't like it that much on the N64 was because there was a ton of slowdown and it was choppy and very blurry. All those problems are now fixed on the XBLA version.

Ah no, Nuts and Bolts, sorry about that. I did check out the Tooie demo on live on Saturday and can echo your feelings a bit. At least Tooie seemed playable even now, kazooie was just old.

EternalGamer

05-03-2009, 02:29 PM

Ah no, Nuts and Bolts, sorry about that. I did check out the Tooie demo on live on Saturday and can echo your feelings a bit. At least Tooie seemed playable even now, kazooie was just old.

I have gradually come to the conclusion that Nuts Bolts is a better game than both of the originals and that is saying a lot coming from me because platforming is one of my favorite genres of videogame. Again, it's a shame the game didn't do better at retail.

Multiplayer would be blast if you could find regular players in it. Tons of great vehicles and modes from racing to darts, golf and soccer to king of the hill
and capture the flag and all in whatever crazy custom vehicles you want.

Variable Gear

05-03-2009, 02:40 PM

VARIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABLLLLLLLLLE GEAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

But please, feel free to not say hello. :)
What's up, EvAv? I haven't talked with you for a while... ;_;

Spigot

05-03-2009, 02:45 PM

Oh, you guys. Get A Room.

Variable Gear

05-03-2009, 02:49 PM

Oh, you guys. Get A Room.
If I could, I would... :p

MagGnome

05-03-2009, 03:34 PM

I have gradually come to the conclusion that Nuts Bolts is a better game than both of the originals and that is saying a lot coming from me because platforming is one of my favorite genres of videogame. Again, it's a shame the game didn't do better at retail.

Multiplayer would be blast if you could find regular players in it. Tons of great vehicles and modes from racing to darts, golf and soccer to king of the hill
and capture the flag and all in whatever crazy custom vehicles you want.

All this talk about Nuts & Bolts has me curious to try out the game. I might have to pick it up sometime, although we all know I don't need anymore games to play. :p

I'll at least give the demo a go.

astranoir

05-03-2009, 05:07 PM

I've been hating this whole job application process recently, too. It's so depressing.

On the bright side, though, you're playing Uncharted! That's probably one of my favorite games, for sure for PS3. I know some people were a put off by the heavy shootouts and wanted more complex platforming, but I didn't mind at all (most likely because I'm better at shooters than platformers). Nathan and Sully are just so fun.

Recently I got two letters from jobs, and was like "aw, damn, more rejection letters," but they turned out to be "you met the minimum requirement letters; we'll let you know if you score an interview" letters... hopefully that will pan out, but it doesn't make me hopeful.

I am liking Uncharted.
Sully already got shot. Now I'm running around alone since I jumped out of that plane.
So I got stuck on this one shooting part and will pick it up again if my boyfriend gets done with this disc of Dr. Katz soon :)

MagGnome

05-03-2009, 05:15 PM

I installed Oblivion. I'll start it up either later tonight or on Tuesday, depending on how much time I have. :)

Purple Santa

05-03-2009, 05:28 PM

As for Lux Pain, good job. You did the right thing and should get the 'true' ending now. Just be warned that the 'boss' at the end of Episode 19 is a pain in the arse.
I finished the game. Thanks for the tip on episode 16. It was worth it to see the last two chapters. Although there was a even bigger pain in the ARSE boss waiting at the end. But they wrapped up the story really nicely in those two episodes. Also left the door open for a possible sequel...and dammit I want one! I will learn Japanese if I have to if it only exists in Japan eventually.
I just ordered 4GB of RAM for my computer. I have 1GB now, so I should see a big increase in performance, woohoo! :D
Better gaming performance? Awesome! Now we just have to get you to play more games ;)

I'll at least give the demo a go.
Demo was loads of fun. It's a game I think you might like to play around with.

@Eternal Gamer: There are enough CoGer's who really liked BK and were interested in multiplayer. You might want to consider trying to set up a date to see if any interest for a BK night. I played some multiplayer when it first came out and it was a blast.

EternalGamer

05-03-2009, 05:52 PM

I might do that, Purple. I finished off the single player today getting 810/1000 achievements. I am holding off on the "collect every puzzle piece" achievement, which is the only one I don't have. That requires getting the Time Trophies in every level but one and there are at leat four or five that I know would have me wanting to break controllers, so I'm passing for now, but I might come back to it later. I just got some really cool new vehicle parts for breaking 100 puzzle pieces. I sort of wonder what the reaction would have been if they just let you have access to most/all the parts at the start. It would have decreased the game's challenge, but I think it might have changed a lot of people's minds about the game and encouraged sales.

I also played the Wolverine demo today and was quite impressed. They bitched about it on 1up yours but I don't get it. This game is like God of War with Wolverine. And, from what I played, it has the same great emphatic action of God of War. I particularly love the way you can lock on to an enemy from 30 feet away and lunge right at them landing on their chest. It's a really fun mechanic that I couldn't see my self easily getting tired of.

It's not good enough that I'm going to pay $60 for the game, but that is true of most good games. When it gets under $30, I'll definitely pick it up. If the demo is any indication, this game can hold its own with the best action games on the market.