DanJW

What did you do there then? Yes, perhaps the same quote-balloon with a plus sign inside it?

Ah, but you only turn into Super Sonic if you double-jump. Therefore it is possible to not turn into him if you jump carefully (supersonic is a pain t control on the blimp level). The final boss is pretty damn easy and after a few times you should be able to kill him without getting hit once. The special stages... hmm. I think the trick is to jump if you think you're about to hit a bomb. The later ones are hard, but not that hard. Perhaps playing 2player vs special stages hones you skills (it can be a proper nause-fest!)

That's pretty cool! I would still prefer it if attached images showed up the same way as [] tags though.

I heard that there's something happening on the 16th August. Whatever could it be?

I remember sonic 1 on the megadrive having the hardest bonus stages. Ahhhhg! I'm spinning!

Ahahahaah

Damn I missed the chance to play Little Red Riding Hood. I too appreciate the sentiment - Like MArican McGee I love the dark side of fairy tales. Still, I bet even his version of Red Riding Hood was more sanitized than the original folk version - which included rape and a very unhappy ending.

Nope.

Soul Calibur is the only beat-em-up series I really like. It can be pickeup easily and played as a button masher, but there is enough depth that those who know what they're doing can pull off spectacular stuff. And watching two experienced players having a duel, using all the parries and guard blocks and so on.. well it's epic. I bought SC2 but didn't play 3. I'll play this new one if I get a chance.

I'm finding it impossible to play. Once I have turned most of the scene 'dark' the framerate drops to unplayable levels. This shouldn't happen in a game with such basic graphics.

Ooooooh I can multi-quote messages now. ------------------------------v

yay! Good job sir and madam sir.

Yeah I think there's a difference between a 'musical number' (as in the broadway musical sense) and simply use of music or a song in a game. After all most games use music (Max Payne 2 made nice reoccurring use of a song by Poets of the Fall). In terms of games that are based on the sensibility of The Musical, I feel honour bound to mention Space Channel 5 and Guitaroo Man. As for more regular games that have a musical intrusion, I can't think of any that haven't been mentioned. I'll ponder it a bit more though.

Not now that Nick has deleted the spmbot posts.

What can I say that I haven't already? Buy a strategy guide maybe? Or watch a youtube clip. Whatever it takes, just L2P! I finished the first Metal Gear Solid today. Hooray! Lots of awesome, although the last few boss fights were really tough, and I was playing on easy(!). I've started a second playthrough, but it bothers me a bit that I can't use my end-of game save on a different difficulty. I'd like to try normal or hard but then I'd lose my unlockables aparently Also I've just found that the extras menu I unlocked contains both Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2. Hmmmm. I might have to give those a go. I also plan on stealing MGS3 back from Rusalka if she doesn't get round to playing it soon. It's a game that deserves to live in the DVD tray.

Reading this brought up a small suspicion in my mind. All those having difficulty do realise that camo only works fully when youre not moving, right? Just wanted to check. Only move when the enemy is looking somewhere else. Also about the three Snakes (minor spoiler?) It's always bothered me that the third wasn't called Gaseous. But then utterly ridiculous code-names are a part of the Metal Gear world I guess.

Don't forget sections such as: MINOR SPOILERS! The chapter about Dr Manhatten, where he experiences his whole life in a single moment. How is cinema going to show us that he is outside time? Rorschache's chapter Fearful Symmetry, where the panel layout and composition is symetrical from the middle of the chapter, running to the beginning and end. Even if you did something similar with camera shots no-one would notice (although I'd love them if they did it). Not to mention the various essays at the end of chapters that fill out the Watchmen universe. ---- In other news, I decided with the advent of the new X-Files movie that I should get around to finally watching the last TV season. At 4 episodes in I'm really dissapointed to be honest. All the plots are circular, putting us back to where we started. The overall "mythology" episodes are absolouttely glacial. Over 9 seasons what have we learned for certain? There are aliens and the government are working with them. It's worse than Lost. You get the feeling that it's going no-where because there is no-where to go. The writers have no idea. Nothing will ever progress. Maybe I've been spoiled by recent series such as BSG, where, you know, stuff happens, and stays happened. Childhood memories shattered, +!

Wow. This puts all the previous spammers to shame.

Oh I just thought of something! Aren't there training missions in the extras menu? The advanced ones are very useful as there's pretty much no other way of discovering the less obvious techniques.

As someone said already, there is a good mix of environments in the game. I think the pull-up/press-up peek might be both shoulder buttons. There is a way to do it anyway and it makes it easier to see around, especially in the long grass which is where I spent a lot of my time. I'm also surprised that between the classic camera and the follow-cam you can't find a viewpoint which suits you. I played it in classic camera (didn't have subsistance) but I checked first-person and used the binocs a lot. It is perfectly possible to get through without being spotted, obviously, by planning movement and using camo and facepaint properly (although the end of Virtuous Mission is always a bit harder than I think it should be). But I don't think there's any more advice anyone can give you. Either you're going to figure it out for yourself at this point, or you're not I hope you do. How about you Thunderpeel, how you doing? -- edit: I've been playing MGS: Integral for the first time. Unfortunately it seems the PC version crashes on modern machines when you get half way through the Psycho Mantis battle. Searching for a fix now. Funny what you said about not being able to see anything Toblix, because that's how I feel. I also feel incredibly clumsy and restricted in this game compared to Snake Eater, but then it's an old game so there I go.

Only because Nick came along and deleted every spam post he could find. Yay for Nick! A Mod in a modless world.

Noooooooooooooo The fort is already breached

Just remember patience and timing. Although it is possible to hide in plain sight, you still need to time your movements when they are not going to see you. And use your various looking-around options as much as possible - first person camera, peeking round corners, sonar, binoculars etc. At some point it will 'click' for you and suddenly seem much more natural. Especially when early on in the game there are routes that make it easy to avoid sentries (for instance underneath the house, round the backs of trees and so on).

Mambo of the Misplaced Salsa of the Strayed Jitterbug of the Jilted Dance of the Disoriented Waltz of the Won't-stop-for-directions And in a slightly different strain: Abyss of the Absent Purgatory of the Perplexed