Here's the thing, I don't watch a lot of special effects laden action movies. So I feel like there's no real reason for me to even want Blu-Ray. Of like the last 10 movies I've watched only one (Sweeney Todd) I think would have benefited from Blu-ray. And I was able to enjoy it just fine regardless. All the rest were stuff like Juno, or The Savages, or the Bob Dylan movie. I mean - these are things I could get just as much enjoyment out of watching on a 13 inch screen. But I just don't feel like most movies benefit at all from the treatment.
Note - this is pretty much the same reason I haven't gotten an HDTV either. The Dailyshow/Colbert is just funny in normal-def. And I doubt there's even more more to see in an episode of the Venture Bros. Most shows/movies (especially good movies) tend to be more about a story than striking visuals.
EA - Actively trying to ruin your favorite hobby for a good 20 years now.
I mean really - are they not going to be happy until they own every game developer in existence and can charge 60 bucks a year for an incremental update to every franchise and brand under the sun?
It's taking every ounce of my willpower to not a) go get down my Legos from my parent's garage (mostly castle Legos, but odds and ends as well) b) go to walmart and just buy 2-3 of the coolest Lego sets I can find. Legos would definitely help fufill my urge to build things, something that, outside of Legos, I'm not really that good at. The problem is technically I'm one of those stupid... what do you call them? "Adults?" *grumbles* The problem is I'm not really nerdy enough to want to have a giant Lego Millenium Falcon sitting around, regardless of how much fun I'd have putting it together.
Oddly enough, just the other day I pulled out while going through my closet the last Lego creation I had ever built. I was probably 16-17 at the time and built a Lego robot using just about every special and space-type Lego I had. I have to say, he's pretty badass.
I tried using that Thief III mod that was supposed to fix the UI issues. It helped a little.
The real problem though was that Thief III was supposed to be played in the third person (for some insane reason) and the awkward implementation of that caused Garret to move like a linebacker. In addition - Thief III was verly poorly coded - and thus it ran like crap on my system (a system that ran the technically superior Doom 3 just fine). In fact - I even tried playing it a few times later after upgrading some hardware, so even well exceeding the recommended specs it ran like poo.
I'm afraid I never got to the level you mention - the aformentioned problems made me quit with disgust a few levels in.
After the disaster that was Deus Ex 2. Both it and Theif III were ruined by simultaneous Xbox development a few years back.
Here's hoping they make a Thief IV at some point as well and don't screw it up.
Or more specifically, the lack of muppets really hurt the new trilogy. Muppets are "alive" in a sense, they physically exist they have textures and wrinkles and other bits of character. Having everything CGI really sucks the sense of life out of a film IMO. I would much rather have a well-made muppet.
CGI and Green Screen acting ruined the new trilogy. Though really, I thought the second and third ones were ok - from a "popcorn" movie sort of standpoint. But I'm not a huge Star Wars person to begin with.
Ruined by its co-development for the Xbox (just like Deus Ex 2). Even on a system that doubles or triples its recommended specs it runs like trash and has a terrible UI and gameplay. I've tried playing it several times and with fan patches and everything it still sucks. Garret the master thief of the series moves with all the grace of a 400lb drunken linebacker in Thief III.
Theif II is an amazing game; certainly the pinnacle of the series. I wish it had gotten a good sequel it deserved. Thief the original was a good game marred by the fact that too much of your time was spent in caves dodging lizards and zombies and other absurdities.
I tried playing one of the fan expansions for Theif II but it would randomly lock up on me every few minutes:(
Yes, I love seeing a used game go for $45 at Gamestop instead of 50 new anyplace else. Then they offer you a nickel if you want to sell them anything back. It's pretty insulting.
Plus a few months ago I went to my local gamestop to get Super Paper Mario the day it was released (I didn't feel like driving all the way to Best Buy) where they told me that the quoted day was the "ship date" and the release date was actually the next day. So I left and went across the parking lot to Walmart (a place I hate going to more than Gamestop) and bought it.
Thanks Gamestop!
I disagree. Notice how a lot of things in WoW are pretty much lifted straight from Diablo II? In Diablo III I sorta picture a Guild Wars/WoW hybrid. The same sort of mini MMO with Wow's item generation system and talent trees and whatnot but set in Guildwars sort of map system/level play. It could really end up being the best of both worlds and I'm pretty excited about it. Not that Guild Wars doesn't do a pretty good job already - I just picked it up a week or so ago and its a fun game; but Guild Wars with Blizzard's flair for polish and creativity plus a few updates here and there = win.
You're taking me too literally and being defensive - also ignoring the fact that in the intervening 3 years I may have gotten some tiny details wrong.
One, I'm sure I did use the LFG system - I'm never one for spamming anything, the notion was that I had to wait around for hours to find a group to level. Good for you for soloing past the dunes, but I remember soloing on my Monk as being super dangerous and even slower than LFG. You'll note I said level 8 or so - I may well have been level 10 or higher - its been 3 years! Why didn't I got to Bubumiru Peninsula? Probably because I never heard of it - and it wasn't near my starting city of Bastock(sp?) Why did I go to Jeuno at 20? To get my damn chocobo so I could cut my 20 minute trips to other zones in half - duh.
Actually, for the Chocobo quest I think I logged in, fed my bird and logged out a few times- it was still a pain in the ass - and yes I did explore Jeuno quite a bit thanks (it was an impressive place) I even did the "light the torches" quest iirc. The point was it could have easily been "gather 3 greens and take them to the Chocobo in Jeuno" (which getting there was a pretty dangerous run IIRC).
One - Dunes was only 2 zones over - so I wasn't straying so far from home. Two - Groups were in those places, as opposed to the Barren Dangruf (that I had to explore for a mission I think - and maybe farmed the chocobo grass there?) and those other places that I haven't heard of/dont't remember. Did you miss the part where I said I played for 3 months? How did you expect me to be such an expert at the best places to level? I went where other people went and stayed close to home as possible.
I'm glad you like FFXI - don't be a dick about it; it could be a hundred times more player friendly and you know it. I played WoW for 2 years (quit recently) and it makes starting out and leveling a lot easier and a good deal more fun, as does City of Heroes (currently playing the free trial) and Guild Wars (ditto).
Went alot like this - level a class to level 8 or so, go to Valkurn (or something) Dunes - spam level 9 Monk LFG for 2 hours and hope the group that finally takes you doesn't break apart in 5 minutes when the Japanese tank decides he'd rather just play with Japanese players. Take your intrepid group of 6 (or was it 5?) players and kill a single crab (you can maybe take 2 if you're good or lucky) repeat times 1000 until you hit level 18. At level 18 kill a zillion ghouls until you get the ghoul skull you need for the subjob quest. Repeat the steps above to level your subjob (it won't get any experience - you have to do it seperately). At level 20 spend several hours feeding a chocobo so you gain the ability to RENT one at specific locations which shortens your run from zone to zone from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.
And well, thats as far as I made it - level 20 monk/10 warrior - in about 3 months worth of effort. I couldn't stomach the thought of going to a slightly higher new zone and killing a different color crab for another 50 levels (crabs were the scourge of FFXI). Its too bad too, because there was a fun game buried in there someplace amongst the tedium and frustration.
*note - this was in 2004 - so its improved a bit since then, though from what I read about the updates not much.
QFT - If CDs were 5 dollars a pop I would have twice as many of them as I do now.
I hate Dualdiscs (I'm trying to buy the last couple Talking Heads CDs I want without getting the damn things) and I hate non-jewel case packaging.
IMO - there's no good reason for a cd to ever be over 9.99 - with sale prices dipping into the $7 range. For this price I should get: My cd, a jewel case, cover art/lyrics packet.
I hate being forced into buying stuff I don't really want (i.e. dualdisc cds, or the pack in a disc of outtakes, etc crap that has kept me from buying Elvis Costello's old stuff thus far) Let me buy an old cd for $7 as it was made and you can keep your delux edition for $15.
I agree, at least partially, I have too many rechargeables as is, I like not having to buy batteries everyday but having to recharge everything I own is getting a little annoying too. That's why I bought me one of those Creative Muvos. One AAA battery and I get ~15 hours of playtime. That I can handle. (Of course for me 15 hours of playtime is like a month of using the thing.) And if I want I can always buy a set of rechargeable nimhs to use in it (and anything else).
It has a battery life of 7 minutes. It will drain the power of other nearby devices causing street lights to flicker and pacemakers to go off. Plus, if four players try to play together via the wifi, it will cause a small but noticeable black spot on the sun. But damn it's shiny.
So the PSP has a battery life of minutes big deal. It also causes nearby lights to dim, drains the batteries of other devices (pacemakers, etc) and if four players try to play a game together over the wifi it will cause a small, but noticeable black spot on the sun. But damn it looks neat.
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Here's the thing, I don't watch a lot of special effects laden action movies. So I feel like there's no real reason for me to even want Blu-Ray. Of like the last 10 movies I've watched only one (Sweeney Todd) I think would have benefited from Blu-ray. And I was able to enjoy it just fine regardless. All the rest were stuff like Juno, or The Savages, or the Bob Dylan movie. I mean - these are things I could get just as much enjoyment out of watching on a 13 inch screen. But I just don't feel like most movies benefit at all from the treatment. Note - this is pretty much the same reason I haven't gotten an HDTV either. The Dailyshow/Colbert is just funny in normal-def. And I doubt there's even more more to see in an episode of the Venture Bros. Most shows/movies (especially good movies) tend to be more about a story than striking visuals.
EA - Actively trying to ruin your favorite hobby for a good 20 years now. I mean really - are they not going to be happy until they own every game developer in existence and can charge 60 bucks a year for an incremental update to every franchise and brand under the sun?
It's taking every ounce of my willpower to not a) go get down my Legos from my parent's garage (mostly castle Legos, but odds and ends as well) b) go to walmart and just buy 2-3 of the coolest Lego sets I can find. Legos would definitely help fufill my urge to build things, something that, outside of Legos, I'm not really that good at. The problem is technically I'm one of those stupid ... what do you call them? "Adults?" *grumbles* The problem is I'm not really nerdy enough to want to have a giant Lego Millenium Falcon sitting around, regardless of how much fun I'd have putting it together.
Oddly enough, just the other day I pulled out while going through my closet the last Lego creation I had ever built. I was probably 16-17 at the time and built a Lego robot using just about every special and space-type Lego I had. I have to say, he's pretty badass.
I tried using that Thief III mod that was supposed to fix the UI issues. It helped a little. The real problem though was that Thief III was supposed to be played in the third person (for some insane reason) and the awkward implementation of that caused Garret to move like a linebacker. In addition - Thief III was verly poorly coded - and thus it ran like crap on my system (a system that ran the technically superior Doom 3 just fine). In fact - I even tried playing it a few times later after upgrading some hardware, so even well exceeding the recommended specs it ran like poo. I'm afraid I never got to the level you mention - the aformentioned problems made me quit with disgust a few levels in.
After the disaster that was Deus Ex 2. Both it and Theif III were ruined by simultaneous Xbox development a few years back. Here's hoping they make a Thief IV at some point as well and don't screw it up.
Or more specifically, the lack of muppets really hurt the new trilogy. Muppets are "alive" in a sense, they physically exist they have textures and wrinkles and other bits of character. Having everything CGI really sucks the sense of life out of a film IMO. I would much rather have a well-made muppet.
CGI and Green Screen acting ruined the new trilogy. Though really, I thought the second and third ones were ok - from a "popcorn" movie sort of standpoint. But I'm not a huge Star Wars person to begin with.
Ruined by its co-development for the Xbox (just like Deus Ex 2). Even on a system that doubles or triples its recommended specs it runs like trash and has a terrible UI and gameplay. I've tried playing it several times and with fan patches and everything it still sucks. Garret the master thief of the series moves with all the grace of a 400lb drunken linebacker in Thief III. Theif II is an amazing game; certainly the pinnacle of the series. I wish it had gotten a good sequel it deserved. Thief the original was a good game marred by the fact that too much of your time was spent in caves dodging lizards and zombies and other absurdities. I tried playing one of the fan expansions for Theif II but it would randomly lock up on me every few minutes :(
Yes, I love seeing a used game go for $45 at Gamestop instead of 50 new anyplace else. Then they offer you a nickel if you want to sell them anything back. It's pretty insulting. Plus a few months ago I went to my local gamestop to get Super Paper Mario the day it was released (I didn't feel like driving all the way to Best Buy) where they told me that the quoted day was the "ship date" and the release date was actually the next day. So I left and went across the parking lot to Walmart (a place I hate going to more than Gamestop) and bought it. Thanks Gamestop!
I disagree. Notice how a lot of things in WoW are pretty much lifted straight from Diablo II? In Diablo III I sorta picture a Guild Wars/WoW hybrid. The same sort of mini MMO with Wow's item generation system and talent trees and whatnot but set in Guildwars sort of map system/level play. It could really end up being the best of both worlds and I'm pretty excited about it. Not that Guild Wars doesn't do a pretty good job already - I just picked it up a week or so ago and its a fun game; but Guild Wars with Blizzard's flair for polish and creativity plus a few updates here and there = win.
It will save us from having to do all sorts of difficult conversions down the line.
You're taking me too literally and being defensive - also ignoring the fact that in the intervening 3 years I may have gotten some tiny details wrong.
One, I'm sure I did use the LFG system - I'm never one for spamming anything, the notion was that I had to wait around for hours to find a group to level. Good for you for soloing past the dunes, but I remember soloing on my Monk as being super dangerous and even slower than LFG. You'll note I said level 8 or so - I may well have been level 10 or higher - its been 3 years! Why didn't I got to Bubumiru Peninsula? Probably because I never heard of it - and it wasn't near my starting city of Bastock(sp?) Why did I go to Jeuno at 20? To get my damn chocobo so I could cut my 20 minute trips to other zones in half - duh.
Actually, for the Chocobo quest I think I logged in, fed my bird and logged out a few times- it was still a pain in the ass - and yes I did explore Jeuno quite a bit thanks (it was an impressive place) I even did the "light the torches" quest iirc. The point was it could have easily been "gather 3 greens and take them to the Chocobo in Jeuno" (which getting there was a pretty dangerous run IIRC).
One - Dunes was only 2 zones over - so I wasn't straying so far from home. Two - Groups were in those places, as opposed to the Barren Dangruf (that I had to explore for a mission I think - and maybe farmed the chocobo grass there?) and those other places that I haven't heard of/dont't remember. Did you miss the part where I said I played for 3 months? How did you expect me to be such an expert at the best places to level? I went where other people went and stayed close to home as possible.
I'm glad you like FFXI - don't be a dick about it; it could be a hundred times more player friendly and you know it. I played WoW for 2 years (quit recently) and it makes starting out and leveling a lot easier and a good deal more fun, as does City of Heroes (currently playing the free trial) and Guild Wars (ditto).
Went alot like this - level a class to level 8 or so, go to Valkurn (or something) Dunes - spam level 9 Monk LFG for 2 hours and hope the group that finally takes you doesn't break apart in 5 minutes when the Japanese tank decides he'd rather just play with Japanese players. Take your intrepid group of 6 (or was it 5?) players and kill a single crab (you can maybe take 2 if you're good or lucky) repeat times 1000 until you hit level 18. At level 18 kill a zillion ghouls until you get the ghoul skull you need for the subjob quest. Repeat the steps above to level your subjob (it won't get any experience - you have to do it seperately). At level 20 spend several hours feeding a chocobo so you gain the ability to RENT one at specific locations which shortens your run from zone to zone from 20 minutes to 10 minutes.
And well, thats as far as I made it - level 20 monk/10 warrior - in about 3 months worth of effort. I couldn't stomach the thought of going to a slightly higher new zone and killing a different color crab for another 50 levels (crabs were the scourge of FFXI). Its too bad too, because there was a fun game buried in there someplace amongst the tedium and frustration.
*note - this was in 2004 - so its improved a bit since then, though from what I read about the updates not much.
QFT - If CDs were 5 dollars a pop I would have twice as many of them as I do now. I hate Dualdiscs (I'm trying to buy the last couple Talking Heads CDs I want without getting the damn things) and I hate non-jewel case packaging. IMO - there's no good reason for a cd to ever be over 9.99 - with sale prices dipping into the $7 range. For this price I should get: My cd, a jewel case, cover art/lyrics packet. I hate being forced into buying stuff I don't really want (i.e. dualdisc cds, or the pack in a disc of outtakes, etc crap that has kept me from buying Elvis Costello's old stuff thus far) Let me buy an old cd for $7 as it was made and you can keep your delux edition for $15.
Sorry 'bout my double post, my seven key doesn't work well, and previews be damned.
I agree, at least partially, I have too many rechargeables as is, I like not having to buy batteries everyday but having to recharge everything I own is getting a little annoying too. That's why I bought me one of those Creative Muvos. One AAA battery and I get ~15 hours of playtime. That I can handle. (Of course for me 15 hours of playtime is like a month of using the thing.) And if I want I can always buy a set of rechargeable nimhs to use in it (and anything else).
It has a battery life of 7 minutes. It will drain the power of other nearby devices causing street lights to flicker and pacemakers to go off. Plus, if four players try to play together via the wifi, it will cause a small but noticeable black spot on the sun. But damn it's shiny.
So the PSP has a battery life of minutes big deal. It also causes nearby lights to dim, drains the batteries of other devices (pacemakers, etc) and if four players try to play a game together over the wifi it will cause a small, but noticeable black spot on the sun. But damn it looks neat.