Ben

I look like something blissful is happening to me. ...I really wish I had put my hands clearly on the table.

Played quite a bit of this today. Basically, it's good and entertaining if you're not expecting the next-generation of shooters. It is highly polished standard fare, AI only gets slightly interesting at Hardcore difficulty but even then it's mostly the same routines. The Co-op is a lot of fun and makes up for what may be otherwise disappointing (relative to the hype, and even then only for those who allow themselves to get caught up in the tornado of hype-bollock that surrounds games like this). It is, of course, very pretty and runs incredibly smoothly at that. In conclusion, it's good and does the job (of entertaining for some hours); not great, not crap, just ok.

Yes, actually piss on them...to death.

I've been playing it for a couple of weeks now. It is pretty amazing, the visuals are astounding and really complement the tone, style and theme of the story (and in some obvious ways, the game play). It is also pretty massive and I have heard others compare it to Zelda: Ocarina in terms of the scope/size of the world. Since I never played that beyond a few quick gos I can't confirm that, but I can say that it is a huge and pretty engrossing creation. I've played over 40 hours of it and from what I understand I am probably not even half way through yet! One slightly annoying thing though is the long tutorial mode and the ensuing hand-holding that takes place throughout the game. It's kind of understandable considering how complex the brush strokes and combat mechanics can get, but yeah, a bit frustrating. All in all it's a small price to pay for what is an otherwise amazing game. I disagree about the game being lifeless, I actually found the initial premise quite powerful and evocative (it is cliched but it is told in the tradition of old folk lore/tales, and with soime lovely accompanying music). The game play is admittedly simplistic but the variety of brush strokes that can be used and the combination of them can add a fair bit of depth (and difficulty) to the game play later on. Also, you can piss on your enemies and kill them.

I usually find myself agreeing with Spector's comments; but that article is terrible and ill-thought out. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill.

You need to get a hold of the Action Replay Disc, which was given away free on DC-UK magazine towards the end of its life. It works with pretty much every game, US and JAP, aside from a few of the more obscure JAP only fighting games.

Yeah, not only have you called the most exciting, fast-paced one as "boring", but you've labelled the absolute worst one (which is a travesty to cinema in general, let alone the Star Wars saga) as "fun". Just get out now. And no - I haven't got these new DVDs Duncan. If you want to have the originals at the same quality (i.e. ripped from the laserdisc versions and without the "re-mastered" touch up given to the VHS versions) then all you have to do is get the rips from the laserdisc versions off ebay. They may not be official but they have the benefit of not including the 'new editions' with all their bullshit.

All I'll say about Metroid on Wii is that it was the game that convinced me the Wii controller is pretty amazing a year ago, as well as (more specifically) being the first viable alternative to the mouse/keyboard setup in an FPS type of game. Furthermore, and this is really outstanding amongst the early Wii titles as not many of them manage it, but the way the controller is used in Metroid is not intrusive on the game play. Metroid Corruption is great on it's own game play values, not simply because it's "Metroid with the Wii controller". The game itself is still the star.

Slightly off-topic, so apologies; but if anyone is interested I posted some pics from yesterday's event in the Thumbs mainpage gallery.

I can't even begin to answer this... and I used to work for Sight & Sound.

No. I'm only disappointed when a game is crap because of the game play. Also, it wouldn't have been possible for them to have the Japanese in the PAL release - SCEE don't allow it generally.

Good news.

The senior games designer I work with also worked at EA (including working on games like Far Cry and Cryisis before he left) and he absolutely hated it. PS - That isn't meant as a snide remark - just stating his feelings as he's expressed them to me. I'm sure there are as many people who like it, than there are those who don't - as with employees at most companies.

I evaluate and design games for a Japanese (originally American) games company.

How many others have found the Uzi?

I have two - mark 1 and 2 respectively. To be honest dude, it sounds like it's dead - but it's impossible to tell without seeing it myself. Is the Mega Drive powering up ok? Or is the light for that out too. If the Mega Drive is also not powering up then try cleaning the contacts on the bottom right hand side of the Mega Drive with an eraser or something similar, and then try plugging the AC adapter into a different outlet. Also, if your Mega Drive has a grey reset button, try plugging the AC adapter from the Mega CD into the Mega Drive to see if the Mega CD adapter is working.

So far today i've played Loco Roco and DoD: Source. Will probably play some VF4 later tonight if i don't end up watching a movie.

I love Spaff. There - happy now?

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64837 "It will follow the adventures of two thirtysomething gamers who wind up getting recruited by the Department of Homeland Security. They're tasked with leading a whole army of gamers in a battle against monsters from a game they've clocked, who have now come to life." + BRUCKHEIMER!!!!!

Well, hardly a surprise after the E3 conference announcements. Still, doesn't make it seem any less expensive to see it in good ol' British pounds. Although Kutaragi's UK cronies bravely agree it's expensive... Oh no wait, they disagree about it being expensive. What a shock. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=17105

http://thefraudcast.com/site/?p=123#comments Rab and his Consolevania crew take a (justified) swipe at 1up's interview with the GameLife lot: "The 1Up Show, that inane corporate snoozefest populated by hipster cunts with horn-rimmed glasses" = Best.

The game play is good too according to Remo Extremo: http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2006/051206_e3_day2_chris_1.x I don't work for SEGA.

That's pretty impressive. Nintendo is the quiet dude hanging around the fringes of a brutal pub fight who, near the end, lunges in with a broken bottle and rapes your face. Continue.

Ok, same drill as last night... kind of. I will not be doing live text updates as I am at work and will instead just be watching it with work collegues on a big projector Anyway, as before, please keep comments on topic and as much as possible Nintendo related! If anyone has a stable live feed, then feel free to do text updates yourselves - sure it would be appreciated by others. But don't worry, we have not just dropped our own Thumbs coverage... watch this space...

That may be, but it has nothing to do with Sonic now since he is not responsible for the IP anymore and hasn't been involved with these next-gen iterations. Anyway, i agree with most of what's been said. They need just 2 things to make Sonic work: - Speed (speaks for itself - just no stopping and starting dammit) - Simplicity (no complex controls - by which i mean using more than one button, no convuluted plots, and no fucking superflous characters) Based on what i know, i have hope that the Wii version is going to address these. The key will be how well the team is able to balance the amount of control the player has with the 'on-rails' aspect of it (obviously if there is too much of a leaning towards the latter it would be bad).