Oh, yeah I don't do that "easy level" stuff. I tend to really "RP" my way through Elder Scrolls games. Every session of playing feels like a Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode that way, haha
What sweeping statements he's making! None of what he said would even sound vaguely familiar to me if not for the PVP aspects of MMORPGs, where people expect you to be at some sort of "honor level" or "rank" or whatever in order to play with you, which becomes a vicious circle. (Can't play to gain rank because your rank isn't high enough.)
But "computer RPGs" in general? And what would those be? Oblivion? Baldur's Gate? Dungeon Siege? Neverwinter Nights? KOTOR? I mean give me a break, those games do NOT treat you like a moron who has to grind in order to do anything fun. Those games give you ongoing, increasingly challenging excitement. There's no sense of "I played long enough so now I get to have fun" at all! I'm really confused by the sentiment.
Though I admit to not having read the article (blocked here).
Why don't they just mandate that you get that spiffy 360 Controller for PC? It's not *that* expensive and IMO is a decent investment anyway considering how good of a controller it is. And naturally it would mean that they don't have to mess with the game's pacing which would be a good thing because I think the pacing was well-done in Gears.
Well, I'm not saying that every company that wants to do it will necessarily manage. But I'm sure some will. Also, there are enough people out there who aren't against being RFID tagged if it means they can get the job they want. Right now it's a voluntary (and expensive?) procedure, but I really don't have that much faith in people to say that requiring RFID tagging will totally fail.
As for military... RFID tagging is not quite as bad as being shot, and I figure if you enlist you probably have come to terms with the latter so I don't see it being *that* big of a deterrent...
I am really friggin against this RFID tagging of people, but I would not be surprised in the least if RFID tagging were to replace dog tags in the military.
I also could see certain companies mandating RFID tagging for their employees. "Sure, we'd love to have you! Naturally there is the mandatory drug screen and chip implant:-)"
I don't really see the government doing this to all US residents, but it probably will be done to armed forces, likely some government agencies, and I'm certain some private companies.
That sucks, by the way, and no-one will be able to stop it.
Bowser is bottom-tier, so he doesn't really get used much. Luke (grabfestbowser) is pretty hardcore with him, as are a couple of other folks like Magnum, but for the most part he doesn't see much play.
Look, if no-one is complaining about M-rated games being sold to minors other than "secret shoppers" then who would have ever cared about this issue to begin with?
If you think my statement is facetious, well, actually it's just unrealistic because "secret shoppers" aren't the only ones giving stores like GameStop a hard time about not enforcing the ESRB ratings.
Well there's no point even mentioning those folks because, well, if they're the only ones reporting it, then it's a 100% victimless affair to begin with!
The only way I can see a sale to an "underage" child being reported is by a parent who notices the game being played (or on the floor/shelf/etc.) but not having had purchased it for the child. That is, a parent would come in and say "hey wtf why did you sell this to my kid despite this suggestion by the ESRB that it ought to be played by someone older?" I believe that it's the parent's responsibility to have prevented this to begin with (if he/she cares enough) by impressing on his/her child the importance of being sheltered from fictional violence and swearing.
GameStop is probably introducing such harsh rules in order to cover their own rear ends when it comes to parents trying to punish the game stores for failing to, essentially, enforce a rule the parents fail to set.
Being so blindly mindful of the ESRB rating is in my opinion completely irresponsible from any parent's perspective, and I wish GameStop wouldn't respect it as much as they do.
I'm not a research physicist, but of the two more prominent competing theories -- pulsating and ever-expanding -- the latter I believe has more support. There is evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, and this is attributed to the presence of "dark energy."
...and develop a Flash-memory-based, forearm-mounted computer with a 7"x2" (or 2.5") touch-sensitive screen. It's hard to fathom how much booty that would kick. iPods are great and all, and the iPhone is rubbish but a proper computer that basically turns you into a sci-fi techie all Predator-style actually interests me. Charging "bases" at home, office, and car means you can keep your art-mounted compy permanently charged.
The screen would need to be that multi-point pressure-sensitive one that the Asian guy from NYU demonstrated recently... wish I remembered the link to the video for that...
And yes there should be "future-proof" versions of various levels, with option including a laser cannon, self-destruct mechanism, retractable blade, Star Wars-style grappling hook, tranquilizer gun, mace spray, and spare tire.
Gideon Emery's voiceover of Balthier for Final Fantasy XII this year is so much more meaningful, colorful, not to mention a far larger work that even the whole of Gears couldn't compare. All in all, if there's one award this year that FF XII should have definitely walked away with, it was voice acting. Probably several others as well. Gears was a phenomenal game, but I don't think that means it should sweep the awards the way it did. Its voice acting was spot-on, but not deserving of any sort of special honor in my opinion.
WRT your mention of Blizzard and Battlegrounds, ArenaNet's Guild Wars has an "Observer" mode which lets people watch high-level guilds compete in PVP (with a 15-minute delay to prevent cheating). It's been well-received and many watch it in order to learn strategy, builds, etc.
In general competitive gaming has quite a following, and televised competition, if properly marketed, can accumulate a sizeable audience. Even games like Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN) have big and impressive competitions nowadays, let alone Halo, Madden NFL, etc.
I have Oblivion, Zelda, and Gears, and all three of these games are worthy nominees for Game of the Year. But what about Final Fantasy XII? This game has many strengths as well, and although I admit that it competes with Oblivion for the long-as-heck single-player RPG niche, Okami does the same with regards to Zelda. In any case, its art direction, unique combat system, musical score, and storyline are top-notch.
Personally I'd give it to Oblivion, but all four of those games (haven't played Okami) deserve high praise.
Really, it's been a great year for gaming! I mean, besides those games, I'm busy with Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for DS and Guild Wars: Nightfall for PC. Most years have far fewer deserving candidates for "best game" than 2006. 2005 had what? Shadow of the Collossus and Guild Wars/WoW?
Given that there are no games to play on the PS3, it makes complete sense that people would be watching movies on it instead. There really has been nothing to push HD-DVD that much so I'm not surprised that Blu-Ray is winning in terms of sales. However, that may change as soon as less-expensive players are released that have more functionality, etc.
In any case, those sales numbers are probably too small right now to bring them any significant returns. I'd wait a year or two before considering whether Sony made a mistake with Blu-Ray or not.
I remember reading that the game's "immersion" factor suffered due to there being levels where you're walking by fire and lava and all sorts of things that basically give off more than enough heat for the whole "cold meter" or whatever to seem ridiculous. Lava is really hot, and you'd actually need a cooling suit for those scenarios I suppose. Anyway, being big on "immersion" myself, I decided that was enough to keep me away considering the number of other great games out there at the moment.
Has anyone who played the game gotten an impression of the music? Good music can do a lot for a game which tries to create some sort of mood.
Well, since then Hayabusa has moved on to bigger and better things (no Castlevania IMO has approached Ninja Gaiden for Xbox in awesomeness... although SotN and Dawn of Sorrow are amazing games). Meanwhile Castlevania suffered such a failure in its move to 3D that it's still old-school 2D monster bashing. I still love it and get every Castlevania game that's released, but I can't even compare them to NG anymore.
So, how many of these Blu-ray hardware sales actually *movies*? You know, the stuff that HD-DVD is a direct competitor for? If the format becomes something that's only economically viable to be used as game media for the PS3 then it becomes as relevant as SNES cartridges in the long run.
Oh, not so much that used games are garbage, but that an employee of EB/Gamestop will tell you that a used game they have on the shelf is at least as good as whatever new game you're looking for, even if it totally isn't.
I've bought used games before, and haven't really had any problems with the disc-based ones (cartridges? terrible experiences with used ones, heh). My point though was that game quality is hardly a concern for the game store employee when suggesting something to buy, if the choice is new vs. used. Used is great, period.:-)
Basically the folks that work at Gamestop and EB are told that the store makes most of its money off used game sales, and that's how it stays open. This is why you see the store employees telling visitors the most blatant BS on the planet in order to make a sale on a used game. It also explains why online retailers of predominately new games can't make a profit -- they have no used games and even if they did they'd be hard-pressed to BS potential customers into purchasing any.
I don't mean to bash EB and Gamestop, because it's not like they are committing a crime by selling an overpriced, used piece of garbage to an ignorant parent (any customer should be responsible enough to either know exactly what he/she is buying, or to not care). But they do have an advantage over online retailers in that they can outright lie about a game to an uninformed person in order to sell something they want to sell (used as opposed to new) -- and they do, frequently. I've had friends work at these stores so I know more-or-less how things go there.
So, is that the game industry's fault? Kinda... they charge the stores so much per new unit that there's no room for the store to profit while selling at MSRP. The industry often makes dang-good profit, too, so it would be nice if some sure-fire hits were sold at a reduced price to retailers in order to help out their business. Would that in turn keep more retailers open for business and generate enough additional sales to only drive business further? Hard to say, and probably not, but it would keep stores from having to follow the EB/Gamestop model. As things are, that's basically how a store has to operate.
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Oh, yeah I don't do that "easy level" stuff. I tend to really "RP" my way through Elder Scrolls games. Every session of playing feels like a Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode that way, haha
Well better late than never as far as Ninja Gaiden 2 goes, I suppose. I was wondering when I should get around to fixing my Xbox 360.
What sweeping statements he's making! None of what he said would even sound vaguely familiar to me if not for the PVP aspects of MMORPGs, where people expect you to be at some sort of "honor level" or "rank" or whatever in order to play with you, which becomes a vicious circle. (Can't play to gain rank because your rank isn't high enough.)
But "computer RPGs" in general? And what would those be? Oblivion? Baldur's Gate? Dungeon Siege? Neverwinter Nights? KOTOR? I mean give me a break, those games do NOT treat you like a moron who has to grind in order to do anything fun. Those games give you ongoing, increasingly challenging excitement. There's no sense of "I played long enough so now I get to have fun" at all! I'm really confused by the sentiment.
Though I admit to not having read the article (blocked here).
Why don't they just mandate that you get that spiffy 360 Controller for PC? It's not *that* expensive and IMO is a decent investment anyway considering how good of a controller it is. And naturally it would mean that they don't have to mess with the game's pacing which would be a good thing because I think the pacing was well-done in Gears.
Hopefully you're right.
Well, I'm not saying that every company that wants to do it will necessarily manage. But I'm sure some will. Also, there are enough people out there who aren't against being RFID tagged if it means they can get the job they want. Right now it's a voluntary (and expensive?) procedure, but I really don't have that much faith in people to say that requiring RFID tagging will totally fail. As for military... RFID tagging is not quite as bad as being shot, and I figure if you enlist you probably have come to terms with the latter so I don't see it being *that* big of a deterrent...
I am really friggin against this RFID tagging of people, but I would not be surprised in the least if RFID tagging were to replace dog tags in the military.
:-)"
I also could see certain companies mandating RFID tagging for their employees. "Sure, we'd love to have you! Naturally there is the mandatory drug screen and chip implant
I don't really see the government doing this to all US residents, but it probably will be done to armed forces, likely some government agencies, and I'm certain some private companies.
That sucks, by the way, and no-one will be able to stop it.
Bowser is bottom-tier, so he doesn't really get used much. Luke (grabfestbowser) is pretty hardcore with him, as are a couple of other folks like Magnum, but for the most part he doesn't see much play.
Look, if no-one is complaining about M-rated games being sold to minors other than "secret shoppers" then who would have ever cared about this issue to begin with? If you think my statement is facetious, well, actually it's just unrealistic because "secret shoppers" aren't the only ones giving stores like GameStop a hard time about not enforcing the ESRB ratings.
100% agreed. She has a somewhat dark complexion but so do most SE Asian people.
Well there's no point even mentioning those folks because, well, if they're the only ones reporting it, then it's a 100% victimless affair to begin with!
The only way I can see a sale to an "underage" child being reported is by a parent who notices the game being played (or on the floor/shelf/etc.) but not having had purchased it for the child. That is, a parent would come in and say "hey wtf why did you sell this to my kid despite this suggestion by the ESRB that it ought to be played by someone older?" I believe that it's the parent's responsibility to have prevented this to begin with (if he/she cares enough) by impressing on his/her child the importance of being sheltered from fictional violence and swearing.
GameStop is probably introducing such harsh rules in order to cover their own rear ends when it comes to parents trying to punish the game stores for failing to, essentially, enforce a rule the parents fail to set.
Being so blindly mindful of the ESRB rating is in my opinion completely irresponsible from any parent's perspective, and I wish GameStop wouldn't respect it as much as they do.
I'm not a research physicist, but of the two more prominent competing theories -- pulsating and ever-expanding -- the latter I believe has more support. There is evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, and this is attributed to the presence of "dark energy."
Wait so the award was "best voice performance for a 3rd person online-multiplayer-enabled shooter" ??
...and develop a Flash-memory-based, forearm-mounted computer with a 7"x2" (or 2.5") touch-sensitive screen. It's hard to fathom how much booty that would kick. iPods are great and all, and the iPhone is rubbish but a proper computer that basically turns you into a sci-fi techie all Predator-style actually interests me. Charging "bases" at home, office, and car means you can keep your art-mounted compy permanently charged.
The screen would need to be that multi-point pressure-sensitive one that the Asian guy from NYU demonstrated recently... wish I remembered the link to the video for that...
And yes there should be "future-proof" versions of various levels, with option including a laser cannon, self-destruct mechanism, retractable blade, Star Wars-style grappling hook, tranquilizer gun, mace spray, and spare tire.
Gideon Emery's voiceover of Balthier for Final Fantasy XII this year is so much more meaningful, colorful, not to mention a far larger work that even the whole of Gears couldn't compare. All in all, if there's one award this year that FF XII should have definitely walked away with, it was voice acting. Probably several others as well. Gears was a phenomenal game, but I don't think that means it should sweep the awards the way it did. Its voice acting was spot-on, but not deserving of any sort of special honor in my opinion.
:-P
On top of that, Cole's dialogue was best
WRT your mention of Blizzard and Battlegrounds, ArenaNet's Guild Wars has an "Observer" mode which lets people watch high-level guilds compete in PVP (with a 15-minute delay to prevent cheating). It's been well-received and many watch it in order to learn strategy, builds, etc. In general competitive gaming has quite a following, and televised competition, if properly marketed, can accumulate a sizeable audience. Even games like Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN) have big and impressive competitions nowadays, let alone Halo, Madden NFL, etc.
I have Oblivion, Zelda, and Gears, and all three of these games are worthy nominees for Game of the Year. But what about Final Fantasy XII? This game has many strengths as well, and although I admit that it competes with Oblivion for the long-as-heck single-player RPG niche, Okami does the same with regards to Zelda. In any case, its art direction, unique combat system, musical score, and storyline are top-notch.
Personally I'd give it to Oblivion, but all four of those games (haven't played Okami) deserve high praise.
Really, it's been a great year for gaming! I mean, besides those games, I'm busy with Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for DS and Guild Wars: Nightfall for PC. Most years have far fewer deserving candidates for "best game" than 2006. 2005 had what? Shadow of the Collossus and Guild Wars/WoW?
Given that there are no games to play on the PS3, it makes complete sense that people would be watching movies on it instead. There really has been nothing to push HD-DVD that much so I'm not surprised that Blu-Ray is winning in terms of sales. However, that may change as soon as less-expensive players are released that have more functionality, etc.
In any case, those sales numbers are probably too small right now to bring them any significant returns. I'd wait a year or two before considering whether Sony made a mistake with Blu-Ray or not.
I remember reading that the game's "immersion" factor suffered due to there being levels where you're walking by fire and lava and all sorts of things that basically give off more than enough heat for the whole "cold meter" or whatever to seem ridiculous. Lava is really hot, and you'd actually need a cooling suit for those scenarios I suppose. Anyway, being big on "immersion" myself, I decided that was enough to keep me away considering the number of other great games out there at the moment.
Has anyone who played the game gotten an impression of the music? Good music can do a lot for a game which tries to create some sort of mood.
Well, since then Hayabusa has moved on to bigger and better things (no Castlevania IMO has approached Ninja Gaiden for Xbox in awesomeness... although SotN and Dawn of Sorrow are amazing games). Meanwhile Castlevania suffered such a failure in its move to 3D that it's still old-school 2D monster bashing. I still love it and get every Castlevania game that's released, but I can't even compare them to NG anymore.
Man and this whole time I thought it was just for stalking pretty girls and watching Spiderman ride atop a train.
Glad to see Symphony of the Night getting re-released though; just wish it were for my DS as well.
So, how many of these Blu-ray hardware sales actually *movies*? You know, the stuff that HD-DVD is a direct competitor for? If the format becomes something that's only economically viable to be used as game media for the PS3 then it becomes as relevant as SNES cartridges in the long run.
Oh, not so much that used games are garbage, but that an employee of EB/Gamestop will tell you that a used game they have on the shelf is at least as good as whatever new game you're looking for, even if it totally isn't.
:-)
I've bought used games before, and haven't really had any problems with the disc-based ones (cartridges? terrible experiences with used ones, heh). My point though was that game quality is hardly a concern for the game store employee when suggesting something to buy, if the choice is new vs. used. Used is great, period.
Basically the folks that work at Gamestop and EB are told that the store makes most of its money off used game sales, and that's how it stays open. This is why you see the store employees telling visitors the most blatant BS on the planet in order to make a sale on a used game. It also explains why online retailers of predominately new games can't make a profit -- they have no used games and even if they did they'd be hard-pressed to BS potential customers into purchasing any.
I don't mean to bash EB and Gamestop, because it's not like they are committing a crime by selling an overpriced, used piece of garbage to an ignorant parent (any customer should be responsible enough to either know exactly what he/she is buying, or to not care). But they do have an advantage over online retailers in that they can outright lie about a game to an uninformed person in order to sell something they want to sell (used as opposed to new) -- and they do, frequently. I've had friends work at these stores so I know more-or-less how things go there.
So, is that the game industry's fault? Kinda... they charge the stores so much per new unit that there's no room for the store to profit while selling at MSRP. The industry often makes dang-good profit, too, so it would be nice if some sure-fire hits were sold at a reduced price to retailers in order to help out their business. Would that in turn keep more retailers open for business and generate enough additional sales to only drive business further? Hard to say, and probably not, but it would keep stores from having to follow the EB/Gamestop model. As things are, that's basically how a store has to operate.