It works with online features that are truly integral to the game. Running World of Warcraft offline would be pointless but something like Assassin's Creed could only artificially include online features and pirates are good at stripping those out.
Doesn't look like we'll be able to answer that (except for making up random bullshit and calling it the truth) since the big bang wiped out all data of what was before, if there even was anything.
I do buy the fact that you got the Power Bombs only *after* defeating the Motherbrain, since Samus never did get them in the original Metroid.
Yeah but I only got them after destroying Mecha Ridley because there's a junction where you can decide to either go for the power bombs or to the final boss which is extremely bad level design IMO. The least they could have done was make getting to Mecha Ridley without the bombs take some serious sequence breaking, not just shooting one block and there you are.
I'm very worried that Other M will be so busy forcing you to play through Samus' backstory that it won't let you do anything on your own, it'll be one of those stupid linear Metroids like Fusion that completely lose what makes Metroid good. Zero Mission was nice but the level design was a bit lacking, the stealth section total bullshit and the item distribution completely questionable (Power Bombs only when you can just go for the final boss instead?).
Only for very few games. NSMB on the DS was one such evergreen title and it looks like NSMBWii will be too but most games blow their load in the first two weeks/months and then fade into obscurity sales-wise.
- for stuff that doesn't need to run all the time (and checking for updates most definitely belongs in this category), perform the task(s) when the associated program itself starts.
Make sure to add "or when the user desires it" or you get shit like Games for Windows Live requiring you to have the game running and in focus while downloading the patch (which can take hours depending on the size and the progress indicator seems to consider downloading the final 1% of the job), preventing you from doing anything else with the computer in the meantime. With Steam I can just start it and have it downloading in the background while I do other things, with GfWL doing anything else makes it cancel the download.
A game I got for half off during a retailer special. Since other people I knew also picked it up (no idea how much they paid) having it now instead of ten years later allows me to play together with them.
They are competitive in some instances, especially during their deals but if you know an American you'd trust enough to handle the buying part and "gifting" the game to you you can get games for their cheap, cheap US prices. I got Borderlands for ~25 when it was brand new because I grouped up with 3 other people and pre-ordered the four pack, we had the American in the group pay the money and had a 10% pre-order discount on top too so the final price was about half of what it would have cost at retail (or Steam regularly).
There's ClicknBuy that allows you to make Steam do direct debit to your bank account, provided you trust them enough (then again you can reverse direct debits like that if you think they're fraudulent)
The only reason I would actually pay a bit more on steam, is if the game couldn't be added to steam by retail key and I wanted to play it online with my steambuddies.
You can link external applications to Steam and it'll give you the overlay stuff, just no invite functionality. Of course many games lack that even in their Steam versions.
The Call of Duty series has been selling fairly well on the Wii considering the ports are vastly inferior to other versions (CoD3 and 5 are over a million, 4 is getting there quickly). Casual FPSes will always sell better on consoles, no matter which console. They're not going to make their casual FPSes PC exclusive and by the looks of it almost nobody bothers with anything else now.
This was on Derail (I saw him do it on a slope that would mean he would not be level with other players and it wasn't just against knife runners and most of the enemies were outside of audible range too. Plus there literally was no delay or transition, I don't know what the query rate of mouse input in MW2 is but if you can move the exact distance on the target's head and click the button between two polls you're a fucking robot.
If you suspect it's audio cues you can try putting on Ninja Pro (silenced footsteps) and see what happens.
Activision's problem for making MW3 is that the developer that made the MW games takes two years per game. There's talk about Infinity Ward not making MW3 but supposedly IW is extremely arrogant when it comes to their series and wants to keep Treyarch(CoD3, World at War, CoD4 Reflex Edition) away from it. Treyarch probably isn't making MW3 either. They recently put another studio on CoD but that won't be long enough to have it out by Christmas 2010. If anything we'll see a Treyarch release something unrelated branded Call of Duty this year.
Decent FPS games will gravitate back to the PC as consoles will no longer be able to compete in terms of power
What the Wii also showed is that weaker graphics aren't a dealbreaker anymore so you can expect FPSes to stay on consoles because more processing power isn't attractive for developers and customers alike.
More importantly because they want to sell us DLC without competition. Not that that's a real reason for removing dedicated servers (and neither is console gaming) since Section 8 has dedicated servers, DLC and a console version.
Players already have different abilities (for example I'm no good with sniper rifles but my grenades claim many victims), no need to throw some arbitrary restrictions on there by preventing players from using the same tools.
Besides, this isn't levelling into specific directions, this is merely unlocking new options. There's no specialization happening because a high level player has all the gear to fit any role he wants while a low level player cannot specialize on certain tasks because he's missing the tools.
The Wii didn't sell because of the better graphics, it sold because of games no other system has. People do pay extra for things that improve their experience like the motion controls, they don't pay extra for better graphics.
I don't think you're alone, there was a massive drop in the value of Activision stock shortly after MW2 came out, most likely people cashing out while Activision is at the apex of its flight.
I bought it at a budget price because I felt I need first hand experience to actually talk about it. I won't be buying MW3 though and neither will many others. Will hurt Activision even more because they're expected to show growth, not decline.
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It works with online features that are truly integral to the game. Running World of Warcraft offline would be pointless but something like Assassin's Creed could only artificially include online features and pirates are good at stripping those out.
Doesn't look like we'll be able to answer that (except for making up random bullshit and calling it the truth) since the big bang wiped out all data of what was before, if there even was anything.
I do buy the fact that you got the Power Bombs only *after* defeating the Motherbrain, since Samus never did get them in the original Metroid.
Yeah but I only got them after destroying Mecha Ridley because there's a junction where you can decide to either go for the power bombs or to the final boss which is extremely bad level design IMO. The least they could have done was make getting to Mecha Ridley without the bombs take some serious sequence breaking, not just shooting one block and there you are.
There's Contra Rebirth but that's just another game that's similar to an old one, not a really new idea.
I'm very worried that Other M will be so busy forcing you to play through Samus' backstory that it won't let you do anything on your own, it'll be one of those stupid linear Metroids like Fusion that completely lose what makes Metroid good. Zero Mission was nice but the level design was a bit lacking, the stealth section total bullshit and the item distribution completely questionable (Power Bombs only when you can just go for the final boss instead?).
Only for very few games. NSMB on the DS was one such evergreen title and it looks like NSMBWii will be too but most games blow their load in the first two weeks/months and then fade into obscurity sales-wise.
My Super Metroid cart does that. Well, I don't blow on it but I have to hit reset many times before it'll work and that tends to wipe the save.
- for stuff that doesn't need to run all the time (and checking for updates most definitely belongs in this category), perform the task(s) when the associated program itself starts.
Make sure to add "or when the user desires it" or you get shit like Games for Windows Live requiring you to have the game running and in focus while downloading the patch (which can take hours depending on the size and the progress indicator seems to consider downloading the final 1% of the job), preventing you from doing anything else with the computer in the meantime. With Steam I can just start it and have it downloading in the background while I do other things, with GfWL doing anything else makes it cancel the download.
MW2? What's that?
A game I got for half off during a retailer special. Since other people I knew also picked it up (no idea how much they paid) having it now instead of ten years later allows me to play together with them.
They are competitive in some instances, especially during their deals but if you know an American you'd trust enough to handle the buying part and "gifting" the game to you you can get games for their cheap, cheap US prices. I got Borderlands for ~25 when it was brand new because I grouped up with 3 other people and pre-ordered the four pack, we had the American in the group pay the money and had a 10% pre-order discount on top too so the final price was about half of what it would have cost at retail (or Steam regularly).
There's ClicknBuy that allows you to make Steam do direct debit to your bank account, provided you trust them enough (then again you can reverse direct debits like that if you think they're fraudulent)
The only reason I would actually pay a bit more on steam, is if the game couldn't be added to steam by retail key and I wanted to play it online with my steambuddies.
You can link external applications to Steam and it'll give you the overlay stuff, just no invite functionality. Of course many games lack that even in their Steam versions.
They forgot to bury it below crossroads, it's coming back again.
Then again Hellgate at least has a singleplayer mode so it remains playable in some form.
I played most of it with the sniper beam, maxed my energy and efficiency stats so I could fire the thing all day long.
The Call of Duty series has been selling fairly well on the Wii considering the ports are vastly inferior to other versions (CoD3 and 5 are over a million, 4 is getting there quickly). Casual FPSes will always sell better on consoles, no matter which console. They're not going to make their casual FPSes PC exclusive and by the looks of it almost nobody bothers with anything else now.
I liked Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, just don't expect it to have much to do with the name.
This was on Derail (I saw him do it on a slope that would mean he would not be level with other players and it wasn't just against knife runners and most of the enemies were outside of audible range too. Plus there literally was no delay or transition, I don't know what the query rate of mouse input in MW2 is but if you can move the exact distance on the target's head and click the button between two polls you're a fucking robot.
If you suspect it's audio cues you can try putting on Ninja Pro (silenced footsteps) and see what happens.
Activision's problem for making MW3 is that the developer that made the MW games takes two years per game. There's talk about Infinity Ward not making MW3 but supposedly IW is extremely arrogant when it comes to their series and wants to keep Treyarch(CoD3, World at War, CoD4 Reflex Edition) away from it. Treyarch probably isn't making MW3 either. They recently put another studio on CoD but that won't be long enough to have it out by Christmas 2010. If anything we'll see a Treyarch release something unrelated branded Call of Duty this year.
Decent FPS games will gravitate back to the PC as consoles will no longer be able to compete in terms of power
What the Wii also showed is that weaker graphics aren't a dealbreaker anymore so you can expect FPSes to stay on consoles because more processing power isn't attractive for developers and customers alike.
Console games can have dedicated servers too so that's not a real reason.
More importantly because they want to sell us DLC without competition. Not that that's a real reason for removing dedicated servers (and neither is console gaming) since Section 8 has dedicated servers, DLC and a console version.
Players already have different abilities (for example I'm no good with sniper rifles but my grenades claim many victims), no need to throw some arbitrary restrictions on there by preventing players from using the same tools.
Besides, this isn't levelling into specific directions, this is merely unlocking new options. There's no specialization happening because a high level player has all the gear to fit any role he wants while a low level player cannot specialize on certain tasks because he's missing the tools.
The Wii didn't sell because of the better graphics, it sold because of games no other system has. People do pay extra for things that improve their experience like the motion controls, they don't pay extra for better graphics.
I don't think you're alone, there was a massive drop in the value of Activision stock shortly after MW2 came out, most likely people cashing out while Activision is at the apex of its flight.
Too bad there is no option to return the game once you've witnessed how it works in practice, eh?
I bought it at a budget price because I felt I need first hand experience to actually talk about it. I won't be buying MW3 though and neither will many others. Will hurt Activision even more because they're expected to show growth, not decline.