JoeX111

I remember being really excited about Halo back when people were still calling it a sequel to Marathon. Everyone on the Marathon Story pages was all abuzz, trying to figure out the connections between the two. Then we find out Marathon's grandiose plot has been replaced with something toilet paper thin instead. I mean, really, what all happened in the game itself? Oh, you land on this ring. Shoot shoot shoot. Gotta save commander keyes. Shoot shoot shoot. Saved him. Gotta get to the control room. Shoot shoot shoot. Flood? Flood! Shoot shoot shoot. Blow everything up. The end. The multiplayer is a blast, but minimal story, repeated levels, and rather repetitive gameplay doesn't equal "7H3 B3zT ga@/\/\e EV0RZ!!!" that everyone says it is. Decent game, but not the bread and butter it is made out to be. And the PC Port is absolutely atrocious. That game continues to run like hell on my computer, while Doom 3, Far Cry, and Half-Life 2 can run in high graphics mode with no slow-down at all. Way to go, Gearbox.

I called EBGames about the ship date thing today. They told me they had my pre-order of the PC version in, even looked it up on the computer to make sure it was mine, and I drove down to get it. They only had the X-Box version in. Also worthy of note was the fact that they hadn't even heard about the Psychonauts playing cards, nor did they have any of them for those who preordered on X-Box, so people like me who pre-ordered off the website to have it delivered to their local store....may not be getting the free shwag. Figures. However, they did state that the PC version would be coming in tomorrow. So, here's hopin' they know what they are talking about.

I actually just finished Riddick the other day and am currently replaying it. It's good, but man, is it SHORT. I realize that it is a console port, but my response to that is: "But they added more levels into this one, so the X-Box one had to have been CRAZILY short!" The game also has a bit of an odd pacing problem. There are a few times where I would have liked to approach a situation in a stealthy fashion, but the game wouldn't allow it, triggering the nearby guys to know I was there instantly without even coming into their line of sight. The game works best when it is giving you a certain amount of freedom and when it is avoiding adding in things like Still, you can now buy it for twenty bucks at CompUSA, which isn't a bad deal. I haven't tried out the commentary mode yet, but it definitely sounds intreguing.

Yay! 1 Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp shirt and 1 Psychonauts poster on its way! Ironically, just yesterday I was telling one of my brothers that if they ever made a poster of the game's cover, I'd totally buy it first chance I got. And here we are. Crazy, huh?

Dang, that'd be a lot of fun, but I live like three hours away from the city the event for my group would be hosted in. It'd have to be a pretty crazy-go-nuts event for me to make the trip. And knowing my luck, it would be.

I've been doing it. I'm signed up with the San Fran group. Me and Vandal from the forums there had the first puzzle figured out before anyone else did, but we didn't know you had to use Dallas' answer rather than our own. Since then, each time I've come back to help, they've been solved before I could join in. Much sadness is mine.

And he is, in part, talking about the game, remember? Or did you think that this quote: "Gameplay is a platformer; you look for various collectibles which are kept track of in a nifty inventory display. Completing dungeons allows you to gain more special powers necessary to progress and unlock hidden stuff" was talking about the books? If you did, then As for the platformer in question being Mario, well, no. He was talking about a specific kind of platformer, and Mario it ain't (unless you are talking about some recent Mario game that I have yet to play). Zelda is probably right, though.

Then you all know about Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day, right?

X-Men? Except this kind of plot has been around for.....ages. Lots of stories featuring children are based around this basic premise. Watch the Disney Channel. The same thing was going on in the Aliens Ate My Homework series I read when I was in elementary school, which was long before Harry Potter rolled around. Lots of platformers are like this. The Sly Cooper games come to mind. I don't think Harry was the first game to put this concept forward, although I honestly couldn't tell you which was the first to use this exact style of platforming. Well, Tolkien studied and did translations of Beowulf. Does that mean that Lord of the Rings is just Beowulf on acid? Not trying to start a flame war here, just contesting some of your points a bit. I can see the point you are trying to make, but I think Psychonauts is less derivative of Harry Potter and more a byproduct of a conventional "epic children's story" ideal that has been around for quite some time.

I love Tim Schafer.

I swear to you, that image of the Prince is one of the funniest things I've seen in years. I showed my younger brothers it and they laughed for five minutes straight (Two younger brothers, I might add, who were in junior high when Warrior Within got released and STILL thought it was a total goofy bastardization of the series). I agree with what you said about the reviews, though. A lot of them said that the game wasn't half bad despite the difference in atmosphere, which is part of why I relented and bought it anyway despite the negative hype. I'm a big fan of Ivan Sulic over on IGN's website, who is also a huge PoP fan. He was still pretty hyped for the game despite the negative press for a while, then he came out with this rebuttle to IGN giving the game an 8.5: I just wish he'd said this before I took the plunge.

Oh man, and I was just saying the other day that I'd give my pinkies to have that Psychonauts cover as a wall poster.

As opposed to someone who doesn't own Sands of Time yet? *runs*

I'll fess up. I bought the sequel around when it first came out. I've probably replayed Sands of Time a dozen times by now and loved every minute of it, so I was willing to give it a chance despite the negative hype that was starting to show once it got released. I figured, they couldn't have brutally murdered everything there was to love in the first game, could they? It couldn't be that bad, RIGHT?!?! Worst. Purchase. Ever.

Does that mean you watched The Iron Giant too?

Touche.

Speaking of looking like Far Cry.... http://www.3dgamers.com/games/vatan/screenshots/ Heh, try loading up a larger version of that last shot there, the one with the guy taking up most of the shot...

Hey look! It's Doom 4! ...err.... Quake....4....

I have no real personal experience with DDR, since the idea of playing Simon with my feet totally doesn't appeal to me, but my friend got one of the home editions a long while back and had some complaints about it. If you can afford the higher priced hard pad (dunno what it's really called...the one that is similar to the actual arcade pad...), it is a MUCH better product than the mat the games typically come with, because they have really poorly placed sensors and have a tendency to bunch up on 'ya when you are trying to do some of the more complex "dances". He eventually just nailed the mat to a hard wooden board to alleviate some of the problems, then finally just gave up on it altogether. But then, this was like several years ago, so maybe the newer products are worth a damn. But I doubt it.

Kill self Work better Be better Graphics on

An old friend of mine has a Virtual Boy! Last I recall, he was using it as a coat hanger or something. Seriously. I remember trying to play it.....once. Ouch.

I can't decide if that's better or worse than Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank turning into the bastard love child of Samus Aran and The Master Chief. http://ps2.ign.com/articles/602/602513p1.html

Sin City was one damn great movie, easily the best comic book adaptation ever made, but it had a few flaws. I think the balance between the pulpy flights of fantasy from the graphic novels and the gritty noir feel were never truly in sync with each other, so scenes like Marv's getting hit by the cars just seem too ridiculous. Worst offender of all though was Britany Murphy's acting, which made me wince in pain and laugh at the same time with every single line. On the other side, though, everyone else was just stellar. Especially Elija Wood as Kevin. Man, that was one hell of a casting job. He was scary as hell.