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Several plot Analyses exist for 2.

Of interest is the one by PresidentEvil, who was apparently the guy who wrote the Official Strategy Guide for 1, the leftover materials making up the bulk of his online Plot Guide for 1 (with actual emails and discussions with the developers).

With 2's Plot Guide, there was less input from Konami, so it's almost all him.

And like someone else said, in some cases even the developers aren't sure about some aspects of the story.

My personal theory is the town is like a Purgatory/Hell on Earth, and there's no clear definition between reality and Hell/fantasy. Silent Hill is where you go when your subconcious feels overwhelmingly guilty about something bad you've done... and you either have the Truth shoved in your face when you're in deep denial, or you just sort of lie in despair. Either way you languish in your own personal Hell. :)

Anyone have any examples of modern sequels redoing levels from their predecessors with the new engines?

More a curiosity than anything else, but Sands of Time has the original Prince of Persia levels in it, using the new game's 3D engine. http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/code/589718.ht ml

Final Fantasy VI - released in Japan March 11, 1999. Obviously you're thinking of something else.

Final Fantasy VI - released 1999.

Idiot.

RPG is kind of a loose term. I mean, you play a role in just about every game. In Super Mario Bros. you play the role of Mario. So what makes a game an "RPG" besides playing the roll of a character?

In the console world, RPG has come to mean a game with an intricate story, and a fighting system based on statistics, just like D&D. See this guide for an example of how everything is determined. It's pretty intricate. "Action RPGs", meaning an RPG where the battles are realtime (an example being Seiken Densetsu), also qualify because aspects like damage and defense are also derived statistically. Zelda does not qualify because it does not use stats to determine damage etc.

But you say that isn't RPG enough. I haven't played very many PC RPGs, but it is my understanding that the battle systems are based mostly on statistics, just like console RPGs. What makes them more RPG than Final Fantasy? Just curious.

You know you COULD expent the whole afternoon discussing why gamefaqs is cutting bad reviews ( on a product which is hated by all n fanboys nonetheless) or you could actually visit the site right here and check there actually are some bad reviews not being deleted?.

your choice.

Whether he was treated unfairly or not, he has every right to complain that his post was taken down.

This guy OWNS a PSP, and didn't like it. That opinion should be heard. I don't like it, but I don't own one. I would be a troll to write a rewiew of it.

Besides, you tell me if his review was more or less fair than this review of the DS.

I hate reviews that give low scores (and especially ones without any real reason) too, I wish they would all go away.

Yeah it is a bunch of crap. The review isn't that bad, it was made by someone who owns the machine, and it is generally accurate.

But to be honest it isn't nearly as good as this review of the DS.

High standards? Factual information? HAHAHAHAHAHAH! My sides!

Just take a look at the "anonymous email" link. I may be a Nintendo fan, but this is just silly. The person writing the email purports that there are "high standards" for a GameFAQs review (go look at the reviews for any new game... 95% 10/10 with no real comment, 1 hater who gives it a 4/10 with even less comment, and the rest somewhere in between), and seems to miss the point that this is reviewing a game _system_, and thus all the components of the system are in play: games both current and near-future, other abilities, form factor, battery life...

1. In the review, he states that because of the lack of memory available for MP3s, that it doesn't stack up to the iPod as an MP3 player. This seems perfectly obvious to any rational person, and the review doesn't seem to make it a major point of contention, just a point that it's jack of all trades, master of none.

The response: We removed your review because it compared the PSP to an iPod. Quote: "For starters, this is the first and foremost reason why the review was removed."

2. Here's some damaging "false information" for you... The PSP costs $250, not $300. 2GB and 4GB Memory Sticks don't exist yet. And you shouldn't add the cost of additional hardware like Memory Sticks to the cost of the system.

One of those three is a minor point. The second is in the PSP's favor to even mention. The third doesn't even apply to the review.

3. "As a small side note, the mention of slim pickings for movies available is laughable at best. Did people blame the Ps2 when DVDs were a new breed of entertainment? No, they blame the movie studios and DVD release corporations."

Okay, so the lack of games argument is now moot on every system ever made, because it's the publishers' fault for not putting the game out for the new medium. Wanna bet that they aren't enforcing this on other systems?

I'm not even going to bother with the rest. There's a repeated implication that there is a bar of quality that must be met to get a review posted on GameFAQs. I can say unequivocally that this implication is false. Here's an example. Now I want you to look at those reviews and tell me that every single one of them justified the score they gave.

400 - HOLMDEL NJ 8
344 - PARAMUS NJ 8
388 - MANALAPAN NJ 6
456 - WOODBRIDGE NJ 2
457 - ROCKAWAY NJ 37
468 - W PATERSON NJ 9
472 - UNION NJ 2
473 - E HANOVER NJ 10
475 - BRICK NJ 31 31
544 - BRIDGEWATER NJ 13
578 - PRINCETON NJ 11
598 - EAST BRUNSWICK NJ 4
887 - PARAMUS NJ 3

There's a transcript available at gameFAQs which you might find enlightening.

Careful, there's a lot of text there.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.html?poll=1949

A crucial part of the new arrangements will be advertising. In-game ads are a fast-growing revenue stream for publisher and licensors, and Silver said the NBA planned to take full advantage of the opportunity.

"In the online games, we can insert virtual signage in the same way we do during the telecasts," he (COO of NBA Entertainment) said. "As part of the reality we're going to be selling advertising in the same way we do in our arenas."

The Maniac Mansion Map sure beats the ascii map I drew in the FAQ I wrote for the game back in '96.

http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/maniac_man sion.txt

It was really tricky trying to create a representation of the Mansion limited to the width of a page and still make it somewhat readable.

Now if only I could get my hands on the prototype of Maniac Mansion that recently surfaced.

http://www.video-fenky.com/features/rg/maniac.shtm l

You are wrong. Like so many others before you, I will end the debate before it starts :) http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/code/563399.ht ml

The game you are looking for is "Ultimate Brain Games" which comes out in June sometime (according to gamefaqs. The DS version includes Go (or Baduk), unlike the GBA one.

You forget the the mother of all sequels known as The Land Before Time, which includes 11 movies and 2 music videos.

1) Go to: Gamefaqs
2) Click on my gaming system of choice.
3) See what the current Top 10 FAQ Pages consists of

More often than not, if a majority of people are looking for a guide for a given game, they're looking for it because they're enjoying it.

GameFAQs has something similar to this already in place, you're not supposed to link directly to an FAQ, you have to instead link to the page with the FAQ listed on it. They claim to have link-blocking countermeasures in place to prevent exactly what I just did above from working (though I didn't find them to be effective when I tried them just now, you may disagree). Then there are infinite sites which disallow remote hotlinking to their images.

Anyway my point is that it's foolish to assume people will obey these terms and conditions, but it IS possible to enforce them manually. It would surely be entirely possible to set up some kind of referrer-looking-up script to make sure you jumped to that page from internally rather than externally.

GameFAQs has something similar to this already in place, you're not supposed to link directly to an FAQ, you have to instead link to the page with the FAQ listed on it. They claim to have link-blocking countermeasures in place to prevent exactly what I just did above from working (though I didn't find them to be effective when I tried them just now, you may disagree). Then there are infinite sites which disallow remote hotlinking to their images.

Anyway my point is that it's foolish to assume people will obey these terms and conditions, but it IS possible to enforce them manually. It would surely be entirely possible to set up some kind of referrer-looking-up script to make sure you jumped to that page from internally rather than externally.

GameFAQs has something similar to this already in place, you're not supposed to link directly to an FAQ, you have to instead link to the page with the FAQ listed on it. They claim to have link-blocking countermeasures in place to prevent exactly what I just did above from working (though I didn't find them to be effective when I tried them just now, you may disagree). Then there are infinite sites which disallow remote hotlinking to their images.

Anyway my point is that it's foolish to assume people will obey these terms and conditions, but it IS possible to enforce them manually. It would surely be entirely possible to set up some kind of referrer-looking-up script to make sure you jumped to that page from internally rather than externally.

GameFAQs has something similar to this already in place, you're not supposed to link directly to an FAQ, you have to instead link to the page with the FAQ listed on it. They claim to have link-blocking countermeasures in place to prevent exactly what I just did above from working (though I didn't find them to be effective when I tried them just now, you may disagree). Then there are infinite sites which disallow remote hotlinking to their images.

Anyway my point is that it's foolish to assume people will obey these terms and conditions, but it IS possible to enforce them manually. It would surely be entirely possible to set up some kind of referrer-looking-up script to make sure you jumped to that page from internally rather than externally.

Check out this poll that GameFAQs is having today.

Rob

The game that he wrote was incredible. It was this twisted mind-meld of everything in the books taken and shoved backwards into the brain of an insane loony. One of the goals of the game is to acquire both tea and no tea at the same time, impressing a smarter-than-thou door enough that it will let you through. You also have to go in and take out parts of your own brain, prevent an armed and deadly armada from being eaten by a small dog by feeding it a terrible bar-room sandwich, and a legendary sequence involving trying to catch a fish in a rue-goldbergesque nightmare of cleaning robots. Unfortunately it's so mind-bendingly difficulty that few people ever make it past the introduction alive.

I recommend sitting down with a guide and the game, for a light evening of laughter and murderous rage.

Yeah, looks like it was finally released - more than two years after its US release, and almost three years past the original Japanese Gamecube release. (This is all ignoring that the game is essentially a port of an older N64 game, incidentally.) Still, its lack of even an announced release date in Europe was a perennial complaint for quite some time. Non-Europeans like myself can probably be forgiven for not realizing that Nintendo did finally release the PAL version of a 2001/2002 game a few months ago. :)

While you're definitely on the mark with regards to games getting horribly delayed for no good reason in the EU, it is getting slightly better. Some notable GBA titles recently have been released in the EU first or almost at the exact same time. The only one that comes to mind is Advance Wars 2, but I know it's not a one-time thing. Also, the EU got a better version of Metroid Prime, with voice feedback warnings, patched bugs, vocal story narration, and a cranked up difficulty level. You can read the GameFAQs FAQ about it here (Open in a new window, 3rd question in Section 4)

And to correct you a bit - the reason Animal Crossing didn't come to the EU wasn't a matter of the usual silly reasons games don't make it to the EU - Nintendo really didn't want to localize the game for the EU market. It took long enough to convert all the text in the game to English - converting it to Spanish, French, and German, *and* accounting for holidays/events that don't exist in some of the destination countries (Thanksgiving? 4th Of July?) would have made it a huge pain.

It was equally ridiculous to expect an Australian release for that game.

I agree, Base Wars is a truly outstanding game. Really innovative, and a lot of fun without having to resort to authentic licensed players.

The "build your team" aspect of it is really the reason for this, since you can customize your players names, as well as the equipment you buy for them.

That era also resulted in another great baseball game: Baseball Simulator 1.000 for the NES. (And Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 for the SNES) Similar to Base Wars, well except for the players aren't robots. And Ultra Plays allow for zany things to happen.

* Hyper Hit (9) - Home run on contact
* Missile Hit (5) - line drive which will pin fielders in its path against the outfield wall
* Tremor Hit (4) - causes an earthquake when the ball hits the ground

... and many more, including power ups for pitching also.

There is a FAQ at http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/file/super_bas eball_simulator_1000.txt

BTW, stupid text entry box on slashdot keeps adding a space between "base" and "ball" in the displayed URL. The link works, though.

Lets hope that some of these innovative style games appear as a result of these exclusivity contracts...

So...Gish eh? Seems our good friends at Chronic Logic have either been rumaging around in the bargain software bins on eBay or have suffered a severe SNES flashback -- not unlike an acid flashback with ones and zeros instead of serotonin and dopamine.

With a little bit of searching, I was able to come up with the following FAQ on a game I played long ago called Smart Ball and a screenshot. Here's the game's title screen.

Congratulations guys, you just did a "21st century Hollywood" style re-make of a really crappy game. Maybe you'd like to try your hand at updating Extreme Sports with the Berenstein Bears for Gameboy Color.

There was a third sequel to Aerobiz, the Japan-only Air Management '96 for Saturn and PSX. Judging from GameFAQs, not a lot of people are aware of it.

and after that are working on Red Faction II.

What kind of work are do they plan to do to it? Red Faction II was published more than a year ago...

I didn't see mention of Star Wars Arcade for the Sega Genesis 32X or Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, the Sega arcade game. The former was pretty forgettable, but I recall seeing someone playing the latter almost every time I saw it in an arcade. May not have been any good, but people were interested in it, if simply because it had a huge 50" screen and Star Wars music.

Sony repairs PS2 units that have the dirty disc error problem for free (whether your unit is under warranty or not) due to a class-action lawsuit. There's an entire FAQ dedicated to initiating the process which can be read here: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/playstatio n2_sony_repair.txt

Whoops, I meant Mass Media

As you can see here:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/n64/review/25002.h tml

they have released starcraft 64 for the nintendu 64.

It was released by nintendu, go figure.

Many hot game titles are available here first

That's only partly true. Game titles that appeal to US audiences more than Japanese audiences are available in the US first, games like Grand Theft Auto, first-person shooters, etc.

Role-playing games, such as Xenosaga Episode 1 (about a year between when it came out in Japan and when it reached the US), Xenosaga Episode 2 (available in Japan 6/24/04, available in the US 2/15/05 ... hopefully), Final Fantasy 7 (available in Japan 1/31/97, in the US 8/31/97), etc. often come out in Japan first -- and some that come out in Japan don't come out here at all or come out MUCH later than in Japan.

For instance, Final Fantasy 5 came out for the Super Famicon [I assume, even though the GameFaqs page lists it as SNES] in 1992. For Playstation, it came out in 1998 in Japan. US gamers had to wait until 1999 for it to come out as part of Final Fantasy Anthology for the PS. The Final Fantasy series isn't exactly unknown here in the US ... and yet we had to wait for that game for about 7 years.

The types of games that you're thinking of that are available here first are probably the types of games mentioned in this article.

But at least, looking at the release dates on the pages linked above, RPG fans in the US are luckier than those in Europe :)

Many hot game titles are available here first

That's only partly true. Game titles that appeal to US audiences more than Japanese audiences are available in the US first, games like Grand Theft Auto, first-person shooters, etc.

Role-playing games, such as Xenosaga Episode 1 (about a year between when it came out in Japan and when it reached the US), Xenosaga Episode 2 (available in Japan 6/24/04, available in the US 2/15/05 ... hopefully), Final Fantasy 7 (available in Japan 1/31/97, in the US 8/31/97), etc. often come out in Japan first -- and some that come out in Japan don't come out here at all or come out MUCH later than in Japan.

For instance, Final Fantasy 5 came out for the Super Famicon [I assume, even though the GameFaqs page lists it as SNES] in 1992. For Playstation, it came out in 1998 in Japan. US gamers had to wait until 1999 for it to come out as part of Final Fantasy Anthology for the PS. The Final Fantasy series isn't exactly unknown here in the US ... and yet we had to wait for that game for about 7 years.

The types of games that you're thinking of that are available here first are probably the types of games mentioned in this article.

But at least, looking at the release dates on the pages linked above, RPG fans in the US are luckier than those in Europe :)

Many hot game titles are available here first

That's only partly true. Game titles that appeal to US audiences more than Japanese audiences are available in the US first, games like Grand Theft Auto, first-person shooters, etc.

Role-playing games, such as Xenosaga Episode 1 (about a year between when it came out in Japan and when it reached the US), Xenosaga Episode 2 (available in Japan 6/24/04, available in the US 2/15/05 ... hopefully), Final Fantasy 7 (available in Japan 1/31/97, in the US 8/31/97), etc. often come out in Japan first -- and some that come out in Japan don't come out here at all or come out MUCH later than in Japan.

For instance, Final Fantasy 5 came out for the Super Famicon [I assume, even though the GameFaqs page lists it as SNES] in 1992. For Playstation, it came out in 1998 in Japan. US gamers had to wait until 1999 for it to come out as part of Final Fantasy Anthology for the PS. The Final Fantasy series isn't exactly unknown here in the US ... and yet we had to wait for that game for about 7 years.

The types of games that you're thinking of that are available here first are probably the types of games mentioned in this article.

But at least, looking at the release dates on the pages linked above, RPG fans in the US are luckier than those in Europe :)

Many hot game titles are available here first

That's only partly true. Game titles that appeal to US audiences more than Japanese audiences are available in the US first, games like Grand Theft Auto, first-person shooters, etc.

Role-playing games, such as Xenosaga Episode 1 (about a year between when it came out in Japan and when it reached the US), Xenosaga Episode 2 (available in Japan 6/24/04, available in the US 2/15/05 ... hopefully), Final Fantasy 7 (available in Japan 1/31/97, in the US 8/31/97), etc. often come out in Japan first -- and some that come out in Japan don't come out here at all or come out MUCH later than in Japan.

For instance, Final Fantasy 5 came out for the Super Famicon [I assume, even though the GameFaqs page lists it as SNES] in 1992. For Playstation, it came out in 1998 in Japan. US gamers had to wait until 1999 for it to come out as part of Final Fantasy Anthology for the PS. The Final Fantasy series isn't exactly unknown here in the US ... and yet we had to wait for that game for about 7 years.

The types of games that you're thinking of that are available here first are probably the types of games mentioned in this article.

But at least, looking at the release dates on the pages linked above, RPG fans in the US are luckier than those in Europe :)

Many hot game titles are available here first

That's only partly true. Game titles that appeal to US audiences more than Japanese audiences are available in the US first, games like Grand Theft Auto, first-person shooters, etc.

Role-playing games, such as Xenosaga Episode 1 (about a year between when it came out in Japan and when it reached the US), Xenosaga Episode 2 (available in Japan 6/24/04, available in the US 2/15/05 ... hopefully), Final Fantasy 7 (available in Japan 1/31/97, in the US 8/31/97), etc. often come out in Japan first -- and some that come out in Japan don't come out here at all or come out MUCH later than in Japan.

For instance, Final Fantasy 5 came out for the Super Famicon [I assume, even though the GameFaqs page lists it as SNES] in 1992. For Playstation, it came out in 1998 in Japan. US gamers had to wait until 1999 for it to come out as part of Final Fantasy Anthology for the PS. The Final Fantasy series isn't exactly unknown here in the US ... and yet we had to wait for that game for about 7 years.

The types of games that you're thinking of that are available here first are probably the types of games mentioned in this article.

But at least, looking at the release dates on the pages linked above, RPG fans in the US are luckier than those in Europe :)

Many hot game titles are available here first

That's only partly true. Game titles that appeal to US audiences more than Japanese audiences are available in the US first, games like Grand Theft Auto, first-person shooters, etc.

Role-playing games, such as Xenosaga Episode 1 (about a year between when it came out in Japan and when it reached the US), Xenosaga Episode 2 (available in Japan 6/24/04, available in the US 2/15/05 ... hopefully), Final Fantasy 7 (available in Japan 1/31/97, in the US 8/31/97), etc. often come out in Japan first -- and some that come out in Japan don't come out here at all or come out MUCH later than in Japan.

For instance, Final Fantasy 5 came out for the Super Famicon [I assume, even though the GameFaqs page lists it as SNES] in 1992. For Playstation, it came out in 1998 in Japan. US gamers had to wait until 1999 for it to come out as part of Final Fantasy Anthology for the PS. The Final Fantasy series isn't exactly unknown here in the US ... and yet we had to wait for that game for about 7 years.

The types of games that you're thinking of that are available here first are probably the types of games mentioned in this article.

But at least, looking at the release dates on the pages linked above, RPG fans in the US are luckier than those in Europe :)

GameFAQs is a site I view for user-posted reviews (but moreso, walkthroughs/FAQs/codes).

Finally, I can stop wearing out my old ToeJam & Earl cartridge!

Seriously, I've not seen much success in getting the console and the hip-hop to play well together. Most recently, most people seem to agree that Get On Da Mic, a Karaoke Revolution for rap songs, generally failed to be playable.

You can see a document on GameFAQs here which clearly describes the Cherry Poppers glitch.

I can't find anyone mentioning the garage glitch (I should have added it's only the Vercetti Mansion garage which does it AFAIK) but my version of the game is 1.30, which you'll notice isn't listed in the different versions section in the doc above...

The PC market is a niche market though, and all the problems with Steam could end up turning even more people off of PC gaming.

Check out GameFaqs for how to get yours repaired...

Nintendo's portable systems are dominated by games like, say, Golden Sun, Megaman: Battle Network, and Pokemon. In each instance, the main character is extremely young, the dialogue is insultingly simple and/or convoluted

Oh, so you think Nintendo's the only one putting out simple, kid-friendly games? Go browse the PS1 and PS2 title lists at GameFAQs sometime.

And that's to say nothing about all the games for Nintendo systems which don't fit your "kiddie" criteria in any way, shape, or form. I notice you didn't bother to list any of those

and Nintendo pulls all sorts of crap like this.

I quote, from the page you linked to -

"Today, Nintendo does not actively censor the games it releases. Games such as the infamous Conker's Bad Fur Day, which include swearing, blood, and sex are now openly published under the Nintendo banner, as long as they carry with them a "M for Mature Gamers" rating."

And also, from a Wikipedia article -

"Upon the advent of the ESRB video game ratings system in 1994, the censorship practices were lessened. However, minor changes to games being localized for the U.S. and European markets are still made on occasion; these are largely left to the individual developer's discretion."

_______

I didn't say anything about violence in games.

've said it a dozen times on Slashdot: when I want a more mature game, I want a game that isn't insultingly simple to play, or where the main character doesn't act like a little kid, not blood and guts.

As said, Nintendo has tons of such games for their systems. Obviously, though, you haven't even bothered looking for any of them, and you're determined to paint a few titles/series as being indicative of their entire library.

Nintendo's portable systems are dominated by games like, say, Golden Sun, Megaman: Battle Network, and Pokemon. In each instance, the main character is extremely young, the dialogue is insultingly simple and/or convoluted

Oh, so you think Nintendo's the only one putting out simple, kid-friendly games? Go browse the PS1 and PS2 title lists at GameFAQs sometime.

And that's to say nothing about all the games for Nintendo systems which don't fit your "kiddie" criteria in any way, shape, or form. I notice you didn't bother to list any of those

and Nintendo pulls all sorts of crap like this.

I quote, from the page you linked to -

"Today, Nintendo does not actively censor the games it releases. Games such as the infamous Conker's Bad Fur Day, which include swearing, blood, and sex are now openly published under the Nintendo banner, as long as they carry with them a "M for Mature Gamers" rating."

And also, from a Wikipedia article -

"Upon the advent of the ESRB video game ratings system in 1994, the censorship practices were lessened. However, minor changes to games being localized for the U.S. and European markets are still made on occasion; these are largely left to the individual developer's discretion."

_______

I didn't say anything about violence in games.

've said it a dozen times on Slashdot: when I want a more mature game, I want a game that isn't insultingly simple to play, or where the main character doesn't act like a little kid, not blood and guts.

As said, Nintendo has tons of such games for their systems. Obviously, though, you haven't even bothered looking for any of them, and you're determined to paint a few titles/series as being indicative of their entire library.

Nintendo's portable systems are dominated by games like, say, Golden Sun, Megaman: Battle Network, and Pokemon. In each instance, the main character is extremely young, the dialogue is insultingly simple and/or convoluted

Oh, so you think Nintendo's the only one putting out simple, kid-friendly games? Go browse the PS1 and PS2 title lists at GameFAQs sometime.

And that's to say nothing about all the games for Nintendo systems which don't fit your "kiddie" criteria in any way, shape, or form. I notice you didn't bother to list any of those

and Nintendo pulls all sorts of crap like this.

I quote, from the page you linked to -

"Today, Nintendo does not actively censor the games it releases. Games such as the infamous Conker's Bad Fur Day, which include swearing, blood, and sex are now openly published under the Nintendo banner, as long as they carry with them a "M for Mature Gamers" rating."

And also, from a Wikipedia article -

"Upon the advent of the ESRB video game ratings system in 1994, the censorship practices were lessened. However, minor changes to games being localized for the U.S. and European markets are still made on occasion; these are largely left to the individual developer's discretion."

_______

I didn't say anything about violence in games.

've said it a dozen times on Slashdot: when I want a more mature game, I want a game that isn't insultingly simple to play, or where the main character doesn't act like a little kid, not blood and guts.

As said, Nintendo has tons of such games for their systems. Obviously, though, you haven't even bothered looking for any of them, and you're determined to paint a few titles/series as being indicative of their entire library.

well, here's a walkthrough for it..