miffy495

The Age of S&M is nice if you like behind the scenes sort of things. There aren't any comics in it or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking (though I'm on the wait list for the re-release of Surfin' The Highway! Squeee!) but it has some cool concept sketches for the games, (all of 'em, even the cancelled Xbox one) TV show, and some early comics. Also, there's a little present-day interview with Sam and Max at the back of the book. It's not worth it if you're just flipping through it expecting a laugh, but it's very cool is you're interested in the process and origins of Sam and Max. I also have the Max n' Crossbones t-shirt. I don't really know what I can say about it. It's a shirt. It has a skeletal Max on it. I dig it.

Isn't that pretty much the plot of Blood Money? In the cutscenes, anyway. Never made it to the end, so I don't know how deep into the whole thing the journalist goes, but that's how it seemed to be heading to me.

I forget where I heard about it (probably here, maybe on 4cr or something) but I did download and play it. Was pretty fun, although I'm wary as to how it'll morph into a full retail release. I don't know if I could justify spending $40+ on it unless there's quite a bit added. Geometry Wars Galaxies has the right idea. I hope De Blob follows the same kind of development. EDIT: Whoah, freaky. Immediately after posting this, I think "I should go see the latest on 4cr." So I head that way. And the second item down is a preview of De Blob. I guess I heard about it here, although that's a pretty weird coincidence.

He could definitely use some world-wearying. 47 is supposed to have seen a lot of shit, yeah? Olyphant is simply too and pretty (in the trailer, at any rate) to pull that off. He looks like a green agent. Maybe he is green in the movie and it'll all work out, I dunno. Doesn't look like the 47 I'd expect, at any rate. And yeah, what's all this crap about bringing peace? Ok, so he usually only kills total scumbags who deserve it, but he's still killing a lot of people, right? Like, for money? As his job title implies? Peace? What?

Yeah, saw that earlier today. Looks like it may work. My fears of no-analogue are being put to rest slowly. All that's left for me to figure out is how I'm going to use buttons to jump. I alway hated that "tap up to jump" mechanic and just defaulted to the C/X/Y buttons to do so. Maybe + or -? It's not like I'd ever consider not getting SSBB though, so it's not really a crucial thing to know before I start playing and figure it out for myself.

I NEED those drums. I also need to play Welcome to the Jungle, but less than the drum thing. 4 months, 4 months, 4 months, 4 months... :frusty: EDIT: I just scared the hell out of my cat with my outburst of "YES!!!" when reading "I decided to take vocals on Bowie's "Suffragette City..." EDIT 2: ...and I'm officially giddy. "Of the eight announced songs so far, six of them are the original masters ("Won't Get Fooled Again" from The Who, "Suffragette City" from David Bowie, "Don't Fear the Reaper" from Blue Oyster Cult, "In Bloom" from Nirvana, "Main Offender" from The Hives, and "Say it Ain't So" from Weezer), with only two covers ("Mississippi Queen" from Mountain and "Paranoid" from Black Sabbath)." "MTV let us in on its plans for the various tracks -- the most impressive of which is a proposed 100+ downloadable tunes in the game's first year alone." And the screen shots show the Ramones' "Rock Away Beach," so make that 9 songs.

I think Pikmin would work very well if the timer were replaced with something representative of time, but not actually restricting the gameplay. During level X, you'd only have enough time to grow 40 Pikmin and those would be all you could use to make it through, or something of the like. It'd keep the challenge, but you'd also have the opportunity to explore the world. If they removed the timer in Pikmin 2, I may have to pick it up. As I said, that was really all I didn't like, but it was enough to ruin it for me. Sounds like Pikmin 2 would be perfect as long as everything else was intact. And yeah, I got caught out by it. I'd spend a day exploring the wrong part of the damned map to find something, or waste a day in an area where I wasn't equipped to reach the rocket piece, or whatever. It got to the point where it became apparent that I could not win the game, so I went and played something else that didn't feel arbitrarily restricting.

(One of my) Favourite game(s): Rez Fuck yes. There is a story, sure, but you need to look at the instructions to know that. This game is just such an amazingly pure and focused experience. The fact that I can beat it in about an hour if I want to actually doesn't detract from it. It's the perfect length for what it is, and the fact that it's so short means that I can always go back and replay it whenever I want without worrying about what new games I'm missing out on because I'm buried in the replay. Love this game. Least Favourite game: Pikmin Love the style. Dig the gameplay. Can't get enough of those cute little plant guys. What's to hate? The fact that the entire game is on a timer. I can't enjoy a game like that. Especially one with such a lush and interesting world. I can't explore. I need to find that next rocket part. DAMMIT WHERE'S THE ROCKET PART!?!? IT'S ALMOST SUNSET!! MOVE YOU LITTLE FLORAL BASTARDS MOVE!!! It infuriates me to see a game that's just so good in every other way have all the fun sucked out of it by one boneheaded gameplay mechanic. As such, what could easily have been one of my favourites drives me completely batshit crazy.

Y'know what? I love Grim Fandango. It's one of my favorite games ever made. Is it one of the best? I don't feel qualified to say. Who is? There are a lot of games that I love. The best game of all time? Well, that probably changes every year or so. As graphics/plot/gameplay/whatever gets you off evolve, the best game ever made will be the newest and greatest evolution of that. I'll say a favorite game from several genres, sure. Grim Fandango, Alien Hominid, Ocarina of Time, Tron 2.0, Donkey Kong Country 2. There's a few for you. Are any of these the best? I doubt it. How is this still a topic with so many different people with so many different preferences playing games?

I once had an Ork army made up entirely of paperclips with eraser vehicles. I was in high school and didn't have a job, so I made do.

Same day, but 360 is the only version that's getting DLC. I believe the rumor is that it cost MS something like half a million dollars to get that secure.

I used to be pretty huge into Magic 8-10 years ago. I still play occasionally, but luckily I no longer have to spend the cash on cards myself. Buddy of mine has a ridiculous amount of cards, and actually plays in tournaments for prize money to buy new ones, so his hobby now finances itself. I'll go over to his place, we'll just grab one of his boxes of cards, each take a handfull. Voila, two decks. Game on. He also happens to work at a game shop that hosts Friday Night Magic tournaments. I often have more drunken things to do on a Friday night, but every month or so I'll stop by and play. Still fun, so I hope you can find a good group of people to play with. The whole reason I stopped playing the first time was that I realized I had this huge stack of cards and only knew one person who played. And he didn't play much.

Been meaning to pick it up for a while, and grabbed it this afternoon after arguing with the bureaucrats at the uni for a while (grrr... obstruct my scholarship, will you?) to take me to a happier place. Loaded it up and started making a carreer profile when I got an invite to a race from Wrestlevania. In the tray for less than 5 minutes and I'm having a good time online. Kudos to MS for making it work so smoothly. I'll probably try and play for a while later tonight in carreer mode to get some cars tweaked and maybe mess around with paint jobs. Still, the 7 or so races that I had today were very nice, and I'm looking forward to more time spent with this game. Never really been one for Simulation racers, but I can see how the online really makes this one a different experience.

Oh boy! 115 versions of Pac Man!

It's all a lie... But hey, I'm over 6 foot 3. I have long legs and a large torso as well. The hands just kind of go in proportion. Back on topic, it's quite a relief that I'll be able to run with the D-pad. To your recollection, is it just movement or can you control most of the game (save the obvious stuff like controlled boomerangs) through the traditional way?

Actually, the reticle makes sense to me. You have to remember that the wiimote is not a light gun, it uses an IR sensor bar. As such, you're pointing in reference to something, not directly at the screen. On top of my TV, I have a DVD player. On top of that sits the sensor bar. I always have to adjust a little bit when I start using the Wii and aim a little higher than I would otherwise. Even when it's not sitting on anything, it's not perfectly accurate. The reticle would let you know exactly what you're aiming at, rather than trying to guess exactly how far off the perfect position your sensor bar is. Was definitely a huge relief to have it in Elebits. I'm reasonably sure it's just as nice to have in RE4.

Hell yeah, I'm looking forward to GTAIV. The two reasons I got a PSP were Mizuguchi and GTA, so it's a given that I'm a huge fan of the series. Also on the lookout for Mario Strikers, Zak and Wiki, and wondering when I'll finally get around to buying Forza 2 so I can make some nice paint jobs.

Well, Carcassone hit today, making it the second major board game to hit XBLA as part of their goal to get these games up and online. The first I consider to be Catan. I guess Uno and Texas Hold 'em probably qualify, but for me they more fit into the realm of "something you do with your family when the power goes out" than a real board game that people will come together specifically to play. These hold a lot of interest for me. Ever since the tenth grade, every Friday afternoon a group of friends and I have gathered somewhere (locations change as we grow up and move around, of course) and spent several hours just playing these games. Settlers of Catan, Carcassone, Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, Alhambra, Junta, Pueblo, Tigris, and whatever else we can get our hands on. Two of our number work at gaming stores, and so every once in a while they'll grab something off the shelf for the day and call it a "demo session" in the paperwork. We disband around seven or eight and go to whatever our Friday night activities may be. It's something I really look forward to every week. Now, I know that this atmosphere cannot really ever be captured by an online HD game, but that Microsoft is making a sincere effort to bring these games to people who may never have touched a traditional board game otherwise intrigues me. The graphics are minimal and do a good job of conveying the artwork of the original games, but I can't really see how they would appeal to those that haven't devoted hours to the physical game. The people I have encountered in these games up until this point have been remarkably well mannered compared to those I've played in Project Gotham, Gears of War, the Halo 3 beta, or otherwise. Does the more calm and measured pace of these games effect how the player treats their opponents, or are these games simply attracting a different kind of player entirely? It seems to me that if MS publicized this effort more and started putting a wider variety of these strategic games out there, they may start a blue ocean movement of their own. Mostly, I refer to Catan here, as Carcassone is new at the moment and I have only had the chance to play one game of it online yet. Still, my opponents in this game displayed the same kind of dignity that I've seen in Catan. I'm very impressed by these games to this point, and will be sure to download future tabletop game efforts as they come to Live. Anyone else find themselves playing a surprising amount of boardgames on a $400 machine? Experiences? Thoughts?

Yeah, the offline multiplay is nice. My sister was over today and I suckered her into a game. She had a round against the CPU first with me showing her the ropes so she could understand what she was doing, but it was just too slow paced for her. A pity, to be sure, but I have other opponents to bother. I'm becoming far more hooked on Carcassone than I was with Settlers (I'm also a lot better at Carcassone than I am at Settlers, go figure) and can see myself playing it way more often than any full-price 360 game. (save for Guitar Hero, of course) Battletech brings back a lot of memories of junior high school for me. My first ever tabletop game, because as a 13 year old boy, it needed to have giant robots blowing the shit out of each other to hold my interest. I never carried the game through high school, so it's been a good 6 years since my last round. I think I still have some mech sheets in a binder somewhere though. I should really see if I can sucker any of my older friends into a game. I think MS does own the rights to Battletech, what with Mechwarrior/Assault being such a big deal on PC and the first Xbox. I never played the DS one, was that more strategic? I think if you're going to bring the Mechwarrior name back to its Battletech roots, the DS or XBLA would be the place to do it.

I like it, especially the return of WW style graphics, but have a couple of reservations about the controls. First off, it looked like sword swing didn't always work when the guy tried to make Link slash. I like my combat responsive. Second, I have big hands. I'm concerned they'll get in the way as I play and I won't be able to see threats that become buried under my right hand as I'm attacking something on the far left of the screen. It's not really something I'll know I'm ok with until I've had a chance to try it myself. I know the running around looks similar to how it was done in animal crossing, and I always ended up getting frustrated with that and switching to the D-pad. Anyone know if I'll have the same option this time around?

Yeah, I saw that earlier today. Really promising, methinks. Although I do hope that the final game takes a more slow and character-focused Grim Fandango-esque approach, that's a decidedly impressive first showing. In other "waiting for" news, one of the games that I'd been looking forward to for a while dropped today on XBLA. Carcassone! My favorite board game (and the one I've devoted at least an hour or two a week to ever since the 10th grade) is playable online! I've had 4 games against the CPU now and one against two random strangers. The reports were true! People who play board games online really are a hell of a lot more civilized than most people who play, for instance, Gears. It's a very good conversion, and if you like the game at all, look into it.

I like Oxfam, but my dontations are unfortunately minimal due to my being (as Ginger so eloquently put it) a dirty student. That 118 thing is a brilliant idea. Do they have some equivalent in North America that I was unaware of?

Really? I never had a problem with Actraiser. Each time I fought a boss while going through the regular game, I'd died at least once and had to learn a technique for getting through them unscathed. When it came time to fight the final, I just did that and got to the big boss on my first try. Then he killed me. Then I did it again, learned his pattern, game over. Hooray! Actually, in terms of older games which typically do have higher difficulty levels, I found Actraiser pretty reasonable. If we're talking about fucking brutal boss-grinds at the end of a game, Viewtiful Joe. Holy hell was that endgame hard.

Given that I'm stopped almost daily, I believe I will. The problem for me is that both Kensington Rd and Stephen Ave, two of the three busiest upscale commercial scenester-y streets in Calgary, are on my walk to work. And each is like running a fucking gauntlet. If I just hug them quickly and keep moving without saying a word, at least I can make them look stupid.

Bionic Fucking Commando. Case closed.