toblix

Exactly! ...holy shit, you were kidding!

That sucks. No matter how fun a game is, if there's nothing to pull me along other than raised stats or whatever I lose interest fast.

So, about Crackdown. I hear that it's more free-form than GTA. I liked the combined freedom and narrative of GTA. Is Crackdown just one big sandbox of enemies or something?

Sure, it seemed like a cool game. It's just that when you don't even have access to a manual, and you've obviously never played the game before, it's kind of stupid to just dump you in the room without explaining anything. Of course I'll give it another go (I'll probably buy it) but the demo wasn't very demo-ish. Of course, I may have chosen something wrong in the menu, I dunno.

Yeah, of course. I knew that. I remember liking the blades concept when it was first released. Calling them shards doesn't even make any sense. What? Arcade? I've got Marketplace, Live, Game, Media and System. I've looked at it some more and my problems are these:There are multiple entry points to the marketplace (or at least a place that lets me download stuff). The blade itself, and the various links from the other sections, like the link from the Live Arcade section (no, not the one where I download new games, but the one where I see which games I've already downloaded) that leads directly to a sub-section of the marketplace without actually taking you there. So there are several different "UI places" for the same thing, which is stupid. Stuff you download from the marketplace is spread all around, which makes sense in that they're put in their respective blades (media for movies, game for demos... except live arcade games (those are in a separate section, right?), avatars and themes, which goes I don't know where), but as far as I know there's no way to look at all my downloads, which is what I'd prefer. If I've selected a couple of interesting things at random and queued them for download during the night, I have to go check all those lists for new stuff in the morning. I have to skip over ad buttons in the UI. Those are ad buttons, right? The buttons with game logos and stuff? Seriously, that's fucking terrible UI design right there. The photo shoot mode in Rumble Roses XX is hot. And I thought DoA was a bit too obvious.

About widescreen: I wasn't talking about the dashboard, I was talking about Splinter Cell, which displays in letterbox. And my problem with the UI is that it isn't immediately obvious where stuff is. I haven't seen any other console UI that's this convoluted. There are, what, five or six shards, and the difference between them are not obvious. And the downloading is terrible. I downloaded some stuff from one of the shards (see, I can't even remember the names... Marketplace? Media? Downloads?) and it was placed in the queue, and then later it was gone and I had to find it in god knows where. My point is that of course I'll get used to it. People get used to eating pieces of shit. They shouldn't have to, though, much like I shouldn't have to use such a pretty, but badly thought-out system. It's like they didn't even eat lunch in the same cafeteria as any of Microsoft's million UI experts.

Yeah, the UI isn't that good. It's pretty, and I guess I'll get used to where everything is and what everything does, but yeah. I feel like there's at least ten menus that are called the same but have slight differences. This fucker is noisy. It's seriously the first console that I have to find some way of placing away from where I'm sitting, shielding me from the barrage of whirring and buzzing it emits. Carcassonne and Catan were really fun, but I still haven't bought anything.

I can't find the SCART cable anywhere. Is it 3rd party? Oh, and about the D-pad, it's like it's oversensitive or something. Clicking right repeatedly always results in it registering some down clicks as well. Maybe it's just me. It seems like it's time for me to just buy a LCD tv anyways. I'll be buying a place to live soon, so I have to get these things over with before I'm neck-deep in debt. It seems you get really good 32"-37" LCDs for almost nothing these days.

Wow, all the cool kids are doing it*! Wow, I only have 25 G's! *did it a year ago.

Is is just me, or do all the games on Live Arcade seem a lot more interesting than the "real" games released for the Xbox 360 (maybe except Dead Rising, which seems really cool)? It's like there's a bunch of fun, interesting games on the Arcade, while the store shelves are stocked with, I dunno, EA Sports games and movie licensed games and what have you. Am I right or am I right?

Then why aren't you on the picture? ::pipe smoking smiley that should exist but doesn't::

Sounds awesome.

Holee fuckaroo.

Damn it, I thought this was something about Half-Life.

What in the fuck?

I take offense at that inconsistently phrased bullet list.

Those motherfucking fucking pieces of shit. Fuck fuck shit piss.

It fell off a cliff and I was out of umbrellas.

Excellent!

Yeah, stuff I've read in the fucking millions of different previews (what'd they do, organize some sort of Fallout 3 bukkake for game reviewers?) has cooled my burning hate somewhat. There's still lame stuff like the nuke launcher, but the all-important combat may not be the lumbering shit-golem I instantly was certain it would be.

SPOOOOILER! So, I just completed it. First the good: The huge strength of these games, and the reasons they work where other adventure games fail, I think is writing and timing. No other game has come close to feeling like a well-written comedy show. The interruptions, the feeling that animation and sound is one (something no other 3rd person adventure games have managed) -- it's magical. The ability to reuse old stuff has lots of comedy potential. Sybil's jobs, Bosco's disguises and ever-escalating prices, all good stuff. Hugh Bliss' voice is awesome, possibly the best voice acting ever. Also, the music on the moon was fantastic. Then, the bad: Before I forget it, the ending puzzle with the key was just stupid. In all the situations where you had switched places, if you took one false step, like towards the rings or the microphone (I was sure that was going to be used for something) Hugh stopped you. The idea that I would be able to get into the ship and turn the key seemed ridiculous -- I was just looking for immediate solutions, like sawing stuff, shooting stuff, etc. It seemed obvious that whatever you had to do, you had to do it right there. The reusing of old stuff can make it a bit boring. Visiting the office again becomes sort of a chore. Everything's the same, so it's just a question of whether something has been added or changed. And walking up and down the street becomes so dull. Speaking of warp drives, what was that warp drive option about? The ending? How about a cliff-hanger for Season 2?! Jeez!

There's just something wrong about using the Wii remote and nunchuck as "pliers" to tear off a man's testicles, or "sawing" up into his groin with a hacksaw. I have to play this.

So, having played it for just ten minutes. I'm excited (and aroused). This seems like it could me more of the excellent gameplay of, what was it, Tomb Raider Legends?

Whoa.

I was joking. Though I see how it would be hard to tell.