Personally, after only about an hour of play, I kind of liked the way that the inventory and barter system worked...the interface is quite easy to work with. In my opinion, the ONLY two things missing is the ability to filter/sort your stuff, and a raise on the relatively low item cap limit (towards the end of the game, you start seeing the message telling you that you are close to capacity rather frequently) Other than that, I think the inventory system was quite effective and easy to use (yes, even with it's very "made for console" design)
Granted, it isn't the best system out there by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still fairly easy to learn and use.
I found out by reading the game manual...sometimes I will jump straight into a game and try to figure everything out for myself, but not having to fight with the interface or the controls when you start makes things much smoother...
::shrug:: to each his own...personally, amongst shooters, I put Half-Life 2 and BioShock at the top of the list. Both of them created very believable worlds that felt alive. You didn't feel like just an observer, you felt like you were actually a part of those game universe's (Mass Effect is great at this as well)
Some folks view games as just a form of entertainment...and that's fine; there is nothing wrong with that. I personally view games as an experience; when I play a game, I consciously put myself in that game world. I'm no longer sitting on my couch, pressing buttons. I'm chasing after head crabs, shooting lightning out of my fingertips, or running for my life in an attempt to NOT see what is making that horrible screeching noise.
Many people will say I am lame and silly for being this way...I say I don't care. Know why I don't care? I may be lame and silly, but I will get WAY more out of my gaming time than people who simply view it as "entertainment" ever will.
There was indeed something groundbreaking in Bioshock...the art direction.
Now now, I know...the graphics weren't the BEST GRAPHIX EVAH!!!! but there was a SHITLOAD of detail in that game. Hundreds of different posters, signs, carpets...
The weapons aren't terribly inventive, the plasmids were under-utilized (in my opinion), and the game is very linear...and yet, it's still an amazingly engrossing experience. You get sucked into the atmosphere like it was a black hole. Granted, as with any game like this (notably Doom 3), you get "used" to the atmosphere and it doesn't affect you as much the more you play it...still, while playing it in the right settings (volume loud, night time) you really are there in Rapture.
Most engrossed in a location I have been other than when reading a book...and considering a book is all in my head, that is quite an achievement.
I am one of those "twits" that loves Half-Life 2 but despises Halo. With a couple of rare exceptions, most of the people I have talked to that claim to not like Half-Life 2 have never played it...Just because a game is a shooter doesn't mean it can't be really engaging and pull you into the atmosphere. Also, playing Episode 1 and 2 make Half-Life 2 a much more complete experience (since by playing only HL2, you are only getting a portion of the story)
I don't know about you, but the first 15 minutes of Bioshock was EASILY one of the best openings to a video game ever.
When I was 16 (I'm 23 now) I did a one year stint in a McDonalds. I don't know if it's the same now as it was then, but when I was working there the boxes that the meat came in were all stamped USDA Grade A Beef. The problem is that for potential lawsuit reasons, McDonalds cooks all it's burgers to well done. When I worked there, for my dinner I would make one medium rare. This will sound crazy, but when they are cooked right (at least back then...again, don't know if this applies now) it made for one of the best burgers I've had anywhere.
The beef is actually very high quality...it just gets cooked into oblivion (and cooked very quickly, at that...from walk-in refrigerator to ready-for-burger in about a minute and a half...not the best of ways to cook meat if taste is of any concern.)
Taking all bets here, folks! How long before Microsoft tries to do something to try to get PC companies to not have this in their systems? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
See, that's just it though; I LOVED playing WoW. I never logged in while thinking "man, I really don't want to play this." I would venture to say that my time spent playing WoW definitely makes up a large portion of my favourite gaming memories.
A better way to describe it would be when I would sit down to play something other than WoW, my thoughts drifted towards thinking that I should log in and finish this or that quest, or head to the auction house instead. I felt pulled to it. Playing other games while in the midst of my addiction (and it was, admittedly, an addiction) made me feel like I was wasting my time...after all, playing God of War wasn't gonna put the ore in my backpack:-)
This is one of the primary reasons why I like Guild Wars so much. I was a WoW junkie for about a year and a half straight (played in the closed and open betas, bought the game on release day). Switched over to Guild Wars.
See, with WoW, since I was paying for it, I felt obligated to play it over other games...as a result, I missed out on a LOT of games when they came out. With Guild Wars, however, since there is no monthly fee, I'll log in for a couple hours here, a couple hours there...maybe a grand total of 5-7 hours a week out of my 25-30 hours a week spent playing video games. Since I'm not paying a monthly fee, I feel less like I HAVE to play it and more like I WANT to play it...WoW is a better game IMO, but I like not having that "second-job" feeling.
Oh, I see how it is Steve. You think just by using a slightly different colour and an entirely different material suddenly makes your products awesome? Sorry bucko, but you can't fool me. It's the same old cult crap it has always been.
(on a more serious note, I would like to apologize to any slashers out there who have taken me seriously...it's 2:30 PM, work is slow, and I REALLY want to go home.8D)
Steve, you keep trying to make things prettier and thinner...and yet all of your products still look the same! There is nothing that sets them apart...having white plastic-on-plastic is not hip, it's not cool, and it's not a head turner.
Come up with something new in your designs. It's been what, 10-15 years? Apple-White is the new grey box IBM: dull, boring, and uninspired.
A commodore 64, in which my dad was playing a wrestling game (I THINK it was called Bebop Wrestling, or something like that). He let me take control of the keyboard, and thus my obsession with gaming had begun (I was 4 at the time)
You are a political whack-job. Your policies would return us to medieval culture, and reflect an astonishing lack of education. I am intensely thankful that we have a process that mostly prevents people like you from ever getting to office.
But seriously though...I don't approve of the way that Microsoft conducts business. I never once said that I did. I was merely making observations. If, in making those observations, my total lack of legal knowledge when it comes to monopolies comes to the forefront...then I guess it sucks to be me.
Slashdot Mirror
Personally, after only about an hour of play, I kind of liked the way that the inventory and barter system worked...the interface is quite easy to work with. In my opinion, the ONLY two things missing is the ability to filter/sort your stuff, and a raise on the relatively low item cap limit (towards the end of the game, you start seeing the message telling you that you are close to capacity rather frequently) Other than that, I think the inventory system was quite effective and easy to use (yes, even with it's very "made for console" design)
Granted, it isn't the best system out there by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still fairly easy to learn and use.
The AC that posted above my OP :-)
I found out by reading the game manual...sometimes I will jump straight into a game and try to figure everything out for myself, but not having to fight with the interface or the controls when you start makes things much smoother...
::shrug:: to each his own...personally, amongst shooters, I put Half-Life 2 and BioShock at the top of the list. Both of them created very believable worlds that felt alive. You didn't feel like just an observer, you felt like you were actually a part of those game universe's (Mass Effect is great at this as well)
Some folks view games as just a form of entertainment...and that's fine; there is nothing wrong with that. I personally view games as an experience; when I play a game, I consciously put myself in that game world. I'm no longer sitting on my couch, pressing buttons. I'm chasing after head crabs, shooting lightning out of my fingertips, or running for my life in an attempt to NOT see what is making that horrible screeching noise.
Many people will say I am lame and silly for being this way...I say I don't care. Know why I don't care? I may be lame and silly, but I will get WAY more out of my gaming time than people who simply view it as "entertainment" ever will.
splitting hairs here, but I would consider those to be more along the lines of in-game cinimatics...
There was indeed something groundbreaking in Bioshock...the art direction.
Now now, I know...the graphics weren't the BEST GRAPHIX EVAH!!!! but there was a SHITLOAD of detail in that game. Hundreds of different posters, signs, carpets...
The weapons aren't terribly inventive, the plasmids were under-utilized (in my opinion), and the game is very linear...and yet, it's still an amazingly engrossing experience. You get sucked into the atmosphere like it was a black hole. Granted, as with any game like this (notably Doom 3), you get "used" to the atmosphere and it doesn't affect you as much the more you play it...still, while playing it in the right settings (volume loud, night time) you really are there in Rapture.
Most engrossed in a location I have been other than when reading a book...and considering a book is all in my head, that is quite an achievement.
I am one of those "twits" that loves Half-Life 2 but despises Halo. With a couple of rare exceptions, most of the people I have talked to that claim to not like Half-Life 2 have never played it...Just because a game is a shooter doesn't mean it can't be really engaging and pull you into the atmosphere. Also, playing Episode 1 and 2 make Half-Life 2 a much more complete experience (since by playing only HL2, you are only getting a portion of the story)
I don't know about you, but the first 15 minutes of Bioshock was EASILY one of the best openings to a video game ever.
You do know that during ANY conversation, you can hit X and it will skip to the next line of spoken dialogue... right?
favourite psychedelic + RP server in WoW + 50-person campfire gathering in crossroads = full of win 8D
When I was 16 (I'm 23 now) I did a one year stint in a McDonalds. I don't know if it's the same now as it was then, but when I was working there the boxes that the meat came in were all stamped USDA Grade A Beef. The problem is that for potential lawsuit reasons, McDonalds cooks all it's burgers to well done. When I worked there, for my dinner I would make one medium rare. This will sound crazy, but when they are cooked right (at least back then...again, don't know if this applies now) it made for one of the best burgers I've had anywhere.
The beef is actually very high quality...it just gets cooked into oblivion (and cooked very quickly, at that...from walk-in refrigerator to ready-for-burger in about a minute and a half...not the best of ways to cook meat if taste is of any concern.)
Great post/sig combo :-)
Taking all bets here, folks! How long before Microsoft tries to do something to try to get PC companies to not have this in their systems? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Hmm...it would appear the fanboys are out in force today with the tags.
See, I love my 360. Love it. I also recognize that it has some of the dumbest engineering mistakes in the history of dumb engineering mistakes.
Sometimes the truth hurts, even if it's about something (or someone) that you love. Deal with it.
While I appreciate the math, there is one thing you didn't factor in:
I haven't (nor do I plan to) buy any expansions for Guild Wars;-)
See, that's just it though; I LOVED playing WoW. I never logged in while thinking "man, I really don't want to play this." I would venture to say that my time spent playing WoW definitely makes up a large portion of my favourite gaming memories.
A better way to describe it would be when I would sit down to play something other than WoW, my thoughts drifted towards thinking that I should log in and finish this or that quest, or head to the auction house instead. I felt pulled to it. Playing other games while in the midst of my addiction (and it was, admittedly, an addiction) made me feel like I was wasting my time...after all, playing God of War wasn't gonna put the ore in my backpack:-)
This is one of the primary reasons why I like Guild Wars so much. I was a WoW junkie for about a year and a half straight (played in the closed and open betas, bought the game on release day). Switched over to Guild Wars.
See, with WoW, since I was paying for it, I felt obligated to play it over other games...as a result, I missed out on a LOT of games when they came out. With Guild Wars, however, since there is no monthly fee, I'll log in for a couple hours here, a couple hours there...maybe a grand total of 5-7 hours a week out of my 25-30 hours a week spent playing video games. Since I'm not paying a monthly fee, I feel less like I HAVE to play it and more like I WANT to play it...WoW is a better game IMO, but I like not having that "second-job" feeling.
Oh, I see how it is Steve. You think just by using a slightly different colour and an entirely different material suddenly makes your products awesome? Sorry bucko, but you can't fool me. It's the same old cult crap it has always been.
(on a more serious note, I would like to apologize to any slashers out there who have taken me seriously...it's 2:30 PM, work is slow, and I REALLY want to go home.8D)
Steve, you keep trying to make things prettier and thinner...and yet all of your products still look the same! There is nothing that sets them apart...having white plastic-on-plastic is not hip, it's not cool, and it's not a head turner.
Come up with something new in your designs. It's been what, 10-15 years? Apple-White is the new grey box IBM: dull, boring, and uninspired.
That's EXACTLY what it was, thank you very much:-)
A commodore 64, in which my dad was playing a wrestling game (I THINK it was called Bebop Wrestling, or something like that). He let me take control of the keyboard, and thus my obsession with gaming had begun (I was 4 at the time)
The Kombucha Mushroom People?
I thought they had said that it had gone gold about a month ago...?
But I still get to vote
Woo! Moron '08!
But seriously though...I don't approve of the way that Microsoft conducts business. I never once said that I did. I was merely making observations. If, in making those observations, my total lack of legal knowledge when it comes to monopolies comes to the forefront...then I guess it sucks to be me.
Never said I was going to run, this are the things I would push for if I DID run.
;-)
Of course, now you see why I'm a stoner/gamer with a 9 to 5 instead