What's also astounding is how much they've jacked up the system requirements. Condition Zero takes a Pentium 3 500 mhz with 96 mb RAM and a 16 mb video card. Remember when at most computers were seperated by 200 mhz? People optimized games during those days
There was a time when I suggested that Nintendo should, and I hated to say it, stick to the handheld market because they'd lost their grasp on next-gen consoles. The N64 left a bitter taste in consumers mouths both in trust and game content (too cutesy), and titles weren't exactly being cranked out too much faster than the N64 (and this time around Rare's selections were mediocre and soon to be nonexsistant due to their move to Microsoft). It seemed to me like doing the Sega was a great idea for Nintendo, only they'd get to keep the iron fist on the handheld market (Neo Geo Pocket fan here).
But I'm proud of 'em! While my video gaming started in the NES era, I can't recall a time that a system had such a huge comback. People suddenly wised up and decided "Nintendo doesn't suck anymore! And it's cheap!" Part of this could be a lack of innovation or post-launch "Killer apps" on either of the other systems (Geez, what happened to Xbox? Halo 2 needs to come out really quickly and remind me that I own one) while Nintendo has been pumping them out monthly. Part of it might have been the strong showing at E3, reminding everyone that Nintendo is the original master of the video game. I think a huge part of it is loyalty - Gamecube owners have the same sort of loyalty and fervor that old Dreamcast gamers did. It's a steady acceleration that started out really slow, but now as more fans appear, velocity is only picking up faster. It's heartwarming guys; The little card-company that could vs. the electronics and computer giants takes on a tortoise and the hare ending. Nintendo's got heart and a love for a good video game. They may not have the money, the licenses, marketing power of other systems, but they make damn good loveable video games. I'm so proud of 'em, I'm going to sit down and play Yoshi's Island
Has anybody noticed that the Neo Geo Pocket Color has "relaunched". Head on down to EB and ask them, you can get a new system with like 5 great games for about 50 bucks or a pack of 4 for about 30. And that's all you need as far as handheld gaming goes.
I support the way of talking into the device. It will urge people to use their cell-phones less. Peer to peer interaction is best when there aren't electronics involved.
Being pretty frustrated and seeing how many people feel similarly, I wonder if there's anything we can do to help. Perhaps Valve would let those who have the code patch up any of the faults they find in the less harmful parts. Of course this would be extremely hard to organize.
The primary goal is that I wish I could contribute somehow. Merely sending Valve money won't really do much and I can't exactly join them (I wouldn't be much help anyway). Any thoughts?
If I remember correctly, the original Max Payne was in development for years. In fact, those of you saying that it predates the Matrix are supporting me here. It saw numerous graphics engine incarnations, each of which were pretty amazing for their times. Now this one is done in, what, about two years? I guess I'm just worried that this is going to be a half-assed effort or done with a different development team to speed the process or soemthing. I'm not too excited
On a seperate note, what happened to old Apogee? I loved their stuff as a kid. Do they still exist?
Art has always been a necessary aspect of video games. It's what seperates the good from the bad. What game is going to steal the most of your time, the simple graphics or the game that creates an atmosphere. This has almost always been present, right down the the "bip boop" of Asteroids. But let's pretend that the atmosphere means nothing - game design is still something that has to be tweaked. Cookie-cutter games generally don't do very well. You can't just make a first person shooter and have it be gold, it has to have the right feel to it.
A lot about Rare games are hype in my book. It started at about Banjo Kazooie. Maybe it was just way too annoying atmosphere-wise but I wasn't entertained at all. But then Donkey Kong 64 came around, and it sucked. Perfect Dark was good fun when it had a playable framerate, and from there we've had Star Fox adventures.
That leaves us with the Donkey Kong Country series (which made the Gamespy overrated list) and Goldeneye, which I will never badmouth. They're beautiful games, especially on the horrible looking N64, and they were marketed extremely well, but Goldeneye is the only masterpiece in there in my book (I've exluded Blast Corps. I actually kinda liked that one)
How did you forget the sounds? The wheezing, the clicking of a far off imp - I challenge you to find a game with more atmospheric sounds. Even the "chugga" of changing the menu was memorable.
Waverace - Admittedly, I'm not a racing fan, but it was short and there wasn't much to do.
1080 - The game wasn't fun. It didn't have the raceability that SSX brought in later (that's pretty overrated to me too) or the ability to bust out tricks like Tony Hawk or to stay true to the genre, Amped. I realize it came out before both of these games but without either of these I didn't see the appeal
Perfect Dark - I couldn't play through that awful framerate and it lacked the charm of Goldeneye.
Conker's Bad Fur Day - This was offensive in the way my little brother is. Oh dear, he's cursing, but he's not funny or cool. Just obnoxious.
But I'll quit my hating on Nintendo.
Alone in the Dark - Yeah, I thought it was creepy, but I was a lot more frustrated because I couldn't make the guy do anything. It could've been twice as scary if it were a SCUMM game.
Claw - Wasn't exactly popular but this game could have easily been shareware. The magazines loved it though.
This can go on forever so I'll quit with
Hitman (1 or 2) - maybe I just don't have the patience or the skills but it seems to me like a great idea that didn't work (probably because there's too much you can do and it's crazy hard)
Good Call on the Halo (great game, but not THAT great), Blinx, Sims and Sim City, Rise of the Robots, Tomb Raider and Myst
If you put little blinking lights on your memory sticks yourself, then you've done some nice modding. While you work on that, I'm going to drool over these
Slashdot Mirror
I've gotta worry about myself when I know I've already seen that page
You know, I figured when the robots take over, at least we'll have one weapon they can't control - the Martial Arts! But there goes that
What's also astounding is how much they've jacked up the system requirements. Condition Zero takes a Pentium 3 500 mhz with 96 mb RAM and a 16 mb video card. Remember when at most computers were seperated by 200 mhz? People optimized games during those days
There was a time when I suggested that Nintendo should, and I hated to say it, stick to the handheld market because they'd lost their grasp on next-gen consoles. The N64 left a bitter taste in consumers mouths both in trust and game content (too cutesy), and titles weren't exactly being cranked out too much faster than the N64 (and this time around Rare's selections were mediocre and soon to be nonexsistant due to their move to Microsoft). It seemed to me like doing the Sega was a great idea for Nintendo, only they'd get to keep the iron fist on the handheld market (Neo Geo Pocket fan here).
But I'm proud of 'em! While my video gaming started in the NES era, I can't recall a time that a system had such a huge comback. People suddenly wised up and decided "Nintendo doesn't suck anymore! And it's cheap!" Part of this could be a lack of innovation or post-launch "Killer apps" on either of the other systems (Geez, what happened to Xbox? Halo 2 needs to come out really quickly and remind me that I own one) while Nintendo has been pumping them out monthly. Part of it might have been the strong showing at E3, reminding everyone that Nintendo is the original master of the video game. I think a huge part of it is loyalty - Gamecube owners have the same sort of loyalty and fervor that old Dreamcast gamers did. It's a steady acceleration that started out really slow, but now as more fans appear, velocity is only picking up faster. It's heartwarming guys; The little card-company that could vs. the electronics and computer giants takes on a tortoise and the hare ending. Nintendo's got heart and a love for a good video game. They may not have the money, the licenses, marketing power of other systems, but they make damn good loveable video games. I'm so proud of 'em, I'm going to sit down and play Yoshi's Island
So long as there's a power outlet to pull
Aw man I LOLed. Mod this sucker up. Me too while you're at it!
Has anybody noticed that the Neo Geo Pocket Color has "relaunched". Head on down to EB and ask them, you can get a new system with like 5 great games for about 50 bucks or a pack of 4 for about 30. And that's all you need as far as handheld gaming goes.
I support the way of talking into the device. It will urge people to use their cell-phones less. Peer to peer interaction is best when there aren't electronics involved.
Way to make a single thought
Being pretty frustrated and seeing how many people feel similarly, I wonder if there's anything we can do to help. Perhaps Valve would let those who have the code patch up any of the faults they find in the less harmful parts. Of course this would be extremely hard to organize. The primary goal is that I wish I could contribute somehow. Merely sending Valve money won't really do much and I can't exactly join them (I wouldn't be much help anyway). Any thoughts?
If I remember correctly, the original Max Payne was in development for years. In fact, those of you saying that it predates the Matrix are supporting me here. It saw numerous graphics engine incarnations, each of which were pretty amazing for their times. Now this one is done in, what, about two years? I guess I'm just worried that this is going to be a half-assed effort or done with a different development team to speed the process or soemthing. I'm not too excited On a seperate note, what happened to old Apogee? I loved their stuff as a kid. Do they still exist?
Dude, your mom sounds kinda scary
I'd rather go and find the phrases that make google go freak out. I'm off to go try Dinosaur Cerebellum
Art has always been a necessary aspect of video games. It's what seperates the good from the bad. What game is going to steal the most of your time, the simple graphics or the game that creates an atmosphere. This has almost always been present, right down the the "bip boop" of Asteroids. But let's pretend that the atmosphere means nothing - game design is still something that has to be tweaked. Cookie-cutter games generally don't do very well. You can't just make a first person shooter and have it be gold, it has to have the right feel to it.
A lot about Rare games are hype in my book. It started at about Banjo Kazooie. Maybe it was just way too annoying atmosphere-wise but I wasn't entertained at all. But then Donkey Kong 64 came around, and it sucked. Perfect Dark was good fun when it had a playable framerate, and from there we've had Star Fox adventures. That leaves us with the Donkey Kong Country series (which made the Gamespy overrated list) and Goldeneye, which I will never badmouth. They're beautiful games, especially on the horrible looking N64, and they were marketed extremely well, but Goldeneye is the only masterpiece in there in my book (I've exluded Blast Corps. I actually kinda liked that one)
What, next you're going to tell me that people are using TEN again! What's wrong with Gamespy?
I knew I bought those klipsh promedia hunk of junks for something!
Package it before the game comes out. Now that we've come so close to tasting it
Nobody's complained about it yet? WHERE'S THE PC VERSION? there. It's been said
There ya go, sucker. Just google for Live Action Pac Man, you'll find it no trouble. Doesn't seem like there's anything very juicy yet
Has anybody heard anything about the live action Pac Man movie that's being made. (I'm not making this up)
I want in on the action! Who can I sue!?
How did you forget the sounds? The wheezing, the clicking of a far off imp - I challenge you to find a game with more atmospheric sounds. Even the "chugga" of changing the menu was memorable.
Yep I can't imagine the PSP living up the specs either. 7.1 channel surround sound!
I mean, haven't you guys ever seen that magical elf in the Ripleys museums
The N64 had a crapload of crap:
Waverace - Admittedly, I'm not a racing fan, but it was short and there wasn't much to do.
1080 - The game wasn't fun. It didn't have the raceability that SSX brought in later (that's pretty overrated to me too) or the ability to bust out tricks like Tony Hawk or to stay true to the genre, Amped. I realize it came out before both of these games but without either of these I didn't see the appeal
Perfect Dark - I couldn't play through that awful framerate and it lacked the charm of Goldeneye.
Conker's Bad Fur Day - This was offensive in the way my little brother is. Oh dear, he's cursing, but he's not funny or cool. Just obnoxious.
But I'll quit my hating on Nintendo.
Alone in the Dark - Yeah, I thought it was creepy, but I was a lot more frustrated because I couldn't make the guy do anything. It could've been twice as scary if it were a SCUMM game.
Claw - Wasn't exactly popular but this game could have easily been shareware. The magazines loved it though.
This can go on forever so I'll quit with
Hitman (1 or 2) - maybe I just don't have the patience or the skills but it seems to me like a great idea that didn't work (probably because there's too much you can do and it's crazy hard)
Good Call on the Halo (great game, but not THAT great), Blinx, Sims and Sim City, Rise of the Robots, Tomb Raider and Myst
If you put little blinking lights on your memory sticks yourself, then you've done some nice modding. While you work on that, I'm going to drool over these