miffy495

Or really, any physical contact. I guess the controller rumbles though...?

I'm finding a whole hell of a lot to like about this game. I got it with a gift certificate, as I was on the fence about it but had this $40 card I couldn't spend on anything else. Turns out to have been a really good decision. The goals can be very frustrating at times, but I get the feeling that that's only because I'm going for the speedrun awards when I complete them. Whenever I've ignored the speed aspect and just played for the joy of it I've found the difficulty to be entirely reasonable. Unfortunately, going for those trophies is just part of how I play games, so some frustration has been cropping up. The comedic value of this game is spectacular. I love how much Rare is taking the piss out of themselves. Granted, you need to be up to speed on your Rare history to get all of it (One of my favorites: Kazooie: "So wait, if we can beat her in this arbitrary race, she won't go through with her plot?" Banjo: "I was in a situation like this once before, with a genie and a giant pig...") but it's really bringing a smile to my face. And somehow the frustration of a really difficult race is softened when the enemy trouncing you is named Piddles the Cat. So far I haven't been that creative in my vehicles. I've only really built one thing, and it was pretty basic. I'm holding out for the parts necessary to create a killer airplane. Once I can design a kick-ass bomber and maybe a zeppelin, I'm golden. In the meantime, just playing through everything and enjoying the humor is plenty for me. As one of the reasons that I picked it up was positive response from Thumbers, I'm wondering why it didn't have its own thread yet. Figured I'd start one. So, who's playing? What have you built that's awesome?

Another couple of hours put in tonight. I was supposed to be writing a paper on Kripke, but instead I was building an amphibious vehicle to use in boat races and take semi-cheating shortcuts over islands. It has 3 large engines. That thing may as well have wings, 'cause damn can it fly. I felt very Q-labs putting on the deployable propellors and floaters so that it functions exactly like a car until I hit the buttons to make it float and move through water. If I don't bother to deploy the floaters, it works as a perfectly good submarine, thanks to the scuba pod. Damn this game is enjoyable...

It was entertaining. No massive defining moments like last week, but a good time nonetheless. We were visited by IDg4f, the host of that Hatchet Job podcast that Wrestle posted about a couple of months back (and that I've since been listening to quite a bit) and the quality of conversation was very high. Worth playing for the talk this week, I'd wager. Gameplay also excellent, but in my mind, overshadowed this time around.

Put in another good session tonight. Just got my 51st Jiggy. I think I'm averaging about 10 per play. I'm discovering that this game is exactly as hard as you want it to be. Trying to do the higher level stuff on Nutty Acres before I'd amassed many parts drove me batty. Now I'm doing the earlier bits of Jiggoseum and ripping through it, getting the TT trophies for almost every challenge. I think right now, my favorite moment was realizing exactly what I wanted my water polo playing creation to do, how to do it, and then watching the whole thing work perfectly. Joyous. Half the time I'll have already hit the minimum requirement for a jiggy, but then quit the challenge anyway because I know I can tweak my machine just enough to get that trophy. Yeah, I love this game. Will be recommending it to pretty much everybody with an Xbox. EDIT: Also, the soundtrack for this is available, right? Listening to those links that you posted, Thrik, has made me realize how huge a part of my childhood that music is, and also that it's really damn good music.

I'm in. I can't imagine worrying that much about snow. They don't plow in Calgary. EVER. Like, a bus got stuck in 4 feet of snow in front of my house a couple of weeks ago. The city's response to all the calls they were getting over snow crises was to put a notice in the paper telling people to stop calling them. That's how Calgary is supposed to deal with snow. Our own municipal government's policy is "quit yer bitchin'." I miss living in Ontario, where when you were snowed into your house, they didn't expect you to shut up and get back to work... Toblix, when I got mine repaired, they didn't have any coffins anymore. I don't know if it's the same for Europe, but for North American returns, they'll now just send you a thing to print off and stick on a box that you buy. Postage paid and all that. I think I spent about $5 on the box. They send it back to you in the same one you send it to them in, so pick a sturdy one.

Chrono Trigger on the DS. First time I've gotten past the first couple of hours. Very near the end now. Enjoying the hell out of it.

I'm interested. Don't know about excited, but I'll probably play it in the hopes that the story will actually end this time. I did (overall) enjoy PoP, so I don't mind going back to prolong the experience. Bright of them to put out the DLC so soon, as the story is still fresh in my mind.

I think I stopped playing the game right after I finished the maze. My (then) 4 year old nephew spent a week with me, and I couldn't really play it while he was around. Never got back to it after that...

I sold a mom on it today at work. Hopefully the kid enjoys it as much as I do. If not, her husband seemed pretty psyched at my description...

Of course, the margin between first and second was much larger. Ah, sweet victory...

Ah, one of my favorite moments from today that didn't involve messing with JamesM. "Holy crap, n0wak's on fire." "HOLY CRAP HE RAMMED ME AND SET ME ON FIRE" time passes... "...and we're both dead."

I'm waiting for one of him dancing.

I seemed to be the only one who didn't get completely screwed by that plane. I managed to squeeze perfectly between two of the engines and get away without issue. Very pleased with that one.

You can just sort of see me off to the right there. I was wedged between 3 burning ice cream trucks and the wall, just waiting until one of them exploded and put me out of my misery. From that point on, the race was all about fucking with Wrestlevania. Brilliant shot, n0wak.

YAY! TL&TD comes out in the middle of reading week! I can feel a marathon play session coming on!

No, no I did not. I should really give it a go. I've been meaning to for ages.

I've actually been playing the hell out of Saints Row lately because I bought the sequel and wanted to finish the first one once and for all. On the last mission now, but that vanishing car crap happened to me when I had 4 stars and 10 seconds left on a hostage mission. Car vanished, hostages got out, my insane wanted level stayed hight, and I was just sitting in the middle of the damn road. About 15 seconds later my car reappeared and I was informed I'd failed the mission and got blown up by the FBI. Still love that game, but man it really is glitchy as hell.

In. I'll be attempting to up my craziness with toblix absent. It will be a shallow attempt to fill the void, but hopefully I'll do some good.

Damn, that's harsh man. If it helps, when mine went in September, it only took 2 weeks to get it back. See you in a few I guess... Cigol, you may be able to play GTAIV on a PS3, but you can't play Grand Thumb Auto on it!

Whoo! I'm in! Thanks, Cigol! Girl has been over all weekend, so I haven't had a chance to sign in yet, but I'm looking forward to a few games tomorrow night!

I think that truck ahead of you was me. As I recall, THAT PRICK flipped off the road while trying to ram me. Serves him right. I didn't realize the trucks deformed that well. Actually looks like a chunk got blown off. Pretty.

Oh, it syncs in with Live? As I have you on that already, and just bought Soulstorm (for the low low price of $7.50) I may take you up on that early next week.

I'm intrigued by bike races. Perhaps even more fun than having a squad of ice cream vans blaring their tunes while racing through Bohan. Or not. n0wak, if you think that's bad, you should have seen what he did when he lost that helicopter race.

You and me both.