Chris

:( :( :(

Hmm, kind of disappointing... Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War was the first one that looked like a contender. Maybe I should play through the KOTOR series or something.

I'm not sure you understand how much impact it had on me to spend $1500 on a PC from supposedly the top of the line specialty makers, then have it not work for a month, then send it to them for two more months only to have them send it back still completely not working followed by the most unhelpful and idiotic tech support converstions imaginable. I have just yesterday finally solved the problem myself due to the internet, no help whatsoever from Alienware. At least I THINK I have solved it. It's been stable so far. But who knows? It was stable for the first few weeks after purchase, so that may not mean anything...

PC Technology coupled with Video Games: A Winning Combination!

Uh, I don't know what any of that means. I still think you probably aren't much smaller than I.

I specifically mentioned Half-Life and Far Cry, but I still consider their gameplay to be a very different sort than Halo's, like I said. I tried to briefly explain why.

In-brain advertising!

NOTE: I am referring to both Halo and Halo 2 when I say "Halo" because these particular points I am making I think apply to both. I disagree completely about Halo being a PC FPS ported to console. I don't think it's ANYTHING like a PC FPS. PC FPS games are by a million percent way more about twitch gameplay. Great PC FPS games are things like Quake, Unreal Tournament, and so forth, which honestly have very little in common with Halo other than being FPSes. Even the Half Life series, while clearly an astonishing watershed in gaming, in terms of gameplay has more in common with its PC brethren. The thing that's so good about Halo is its unique style of play. The weapons have far more individuality than in any other FPS I've played. PC gamers complain about only getting two weapons, but that's the point. You only need two weapons, because the weapons in that game are so diverse and versatile that there's ALWAYS a strategy to use one how you need it. There really aren't "weak" weapons, with the possible exception of the assault rifle/SMG but even that has plenty of uses if you know what you're doing. There's none of the traditional PC business of weapons being very much similar in character while only different in terms of damage done. The battles too feel very different. Halo has a much slower than a PC FPS. I mean yes it's still an action packed game, but you really have to invest way more time into planning out all your options and tactics before you run in guns blazing, assuming at least you're playing on one of the highest two difficult modes (and it practically isn't worth playing any other way). Sure, quick reflexes will save you to a point, but not nearly as much as they will in a PC game. The closest comparison I can think of in this specific regard is Far Cry, but even that is a far cry (...ha) from Halo. Far Cry is much more of a long range sniper sort of thing while Halo has some of that but is for the most part more of a short-mid range game. I loved Far Cry by the way, and I love Quake and UT. I'm not passing value judgments here, I'm just trying to explain how different Halo in fact is. PC gamers give it a lot of crap but I think it's unfair and inaccurate to try and compare it to PC FPS games. Had it ended up on PCs (or Macs) first, I still think it would have been very different from other PC FPS games. Also, jokemaster: Lots of people played HL2. That and WoW were (possibly still are) at or near the top of the PC charts from the time of their release. The thing is, the PC market is much niche than the console market. It's unreasonable to assume that tons of people without gaming PCs are going to go out and upgrade just so they can play one game.

What size do you usually wear? It's hard to imagine you being much smaller than me, and I don't think I've ever needed less than an S. EDIT: Obviously I mean since I stopped growing.

ARhghghhhg

You should respond to the request email asking about...that thing.

My copy of DOTT has Dave Grossman's named crossed out, and is signed "By Tim Schafer, and noone else"

8.8 on Xbox.

Damnit.

Yeah, for some reason me too. I keep reading the posts and being like "Hmmm, that doesn't really sound quite like deadworm...". It's bizarre how accustomed I am to just glancing at avatars and ignoring usernames.

From what I've heard, far more people than bought SOT.

Burn!

Extreme Undercover Games Journalism! ™

They probably stuck to reading the profit reports.

Oh right.

I'm not so sure about that... The guitar version looked sort of tricky, but I'm amazed how impressed people are by the piano one. If I remember, both versions had an absolutely shit sense of rhythm. They both hit a lot of wrong notes too but it's a bit more forgivable on the guitar because that instrument is less suited to that kind of playing. It takes a LOT of skill and practice to be able to sing in key like that with no accompaniment except for a bunch of other people who are also singing with no accompaniment. Complex ensemble work of any kind is always a challenge because in addition to getting your part right you have to be constantly keeping track of the other musicians and when you're singing with no instruments to keep the pitch you have to make sure that if for whatever reason a few people DO fluctuate everyone stays relative.

Yes, but I'm not sure how to actually obtain my promised copy... I went ahead and pre-ordered the PC one anyway (so I wouldn't have two of the same version) because I really want the game to succeed and I figure every order helps. I even did it in-store instead of online (thus forfeiting a free t-shirt; I already have the playing cards so I don't need those) under the assumption that it will make more impact if done in the presence of physical EB employees. Anyway when went in yesterday to ask the release date (obviously I knew it, I just wanted to check up on whether the staff was familiar with the game :shifty: ), one of the cashiers said she was really excited for the game after playing the demo and already placed her pre-order. Plus, she doesn't even usually like platformers and hadn't even heard of Tim Schafer (I said something like "Finally, a new Tim Schafer game" and she said "Huh?"). That was a relief because it means the game is looking good to people who have no Tim-related biases.

I pre-ordered at EB but they said they probably won't actually get copies of the game until Wednesay (it only SHIPS on the 19th).

I have no doubt that I would if they actually ran all the games...

Hmmm... Abit cards are the ones that seem to be most frequently reported as having problems, but mainly the ones that were manufactered late last year (like mine). Also the Audigy 2 was a common link among those with the problem. You have to wonder about the state of PC gaming when brands like Abit, Creative Labs, and ATI, which are supposed to be among the top of the heap, have incompatibility issues like this...