twmac

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/review/R126270.html "First question: Are XBOX 360 games even in High Definition? Answer: NO. Now of course you want proof. Look on the disc. What format does it say? DVD-ROM right? Now this disc is DVD 9 and has 8.5gb of information on it. One more gig than a normal DVD. However unless it is HD-DVD, high def. cannot be put on a DVD. Let alone have the memory for it. It requires a blue laser to read it, something the 360 does not have. Rather it has a red laser. HD-DVD and the superior Blu-Ray Disc both use a blue laser to read the smaller encrypted code that only these two discs are capable of." This one tickled me quite a lot but there were some fantastic ones for GTA and Final Fantasy. Some are misinformed, others merely excuses to present utter lies, then there are the ones that are barely legible. Awesome: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/review/R106404.html

They did it to great effect in 'The Suffering: The Ties that Bind'. Sure, it was a little simpler. Depending on the outcome of the player in the first game (good, neutral, Evil) certain returning characters changed their attitude to you. It could totally work in the sequel of Mass Effect given enough consideration. I mean calculating somthing like Shepard's personality, then their reaction to the player character's actions/personality varying according to their paragon/renegade staus. Imagine, even, if Shepard could become a teammate and their stats being based on the original player's progress? Happened in the Hunter: The reckoning series...

Incidentally, if anyone happens to find any other glorious user reviews (on any site) let me know I always enjoy emailing them with fake praise. Apart from the time that I told some one that their review of True Crime on the Streets of LA was racist because the protagonist was an african American and therefore any criticism of the game marked the act as a hate crime. They never replied.

The most of the recent replies were to my work email address (which I no longer have access). One of the ones I sent out recently to a guy who had written an awful review for Jaws: Unleashed (I used lols and rofls and said that agreed with everything he had written)was received with a confused email along the lines: "Thanks a lot, err, I really do try hard to please...." The review was taken down by the writer a week later... I felt sort of bad for that. The review was horrendous though. If I get any others back I'll post the links to the original review, my email and the response.

There are a few good ones on the PS3 side too. If they are stupid enough and I'm feeling like entertaining myself further. I email them with prank messages praising them on how great I thought their review was. Sometimes, sometimes, I get responses.

Agreed about the convergence thing. For the first time in a long time I watched semi-commercial TV and loved it. In england they have a 'Video on Demand' thing going on with some cable providers and it is a breath of fresh air. I can actually watch TV when I want without adverts. If they were to do that properly on the PS3 or maybe create a 'Platinum' account on Xbox LIVE where I paid something like an optional monthly fee and could watch TV shows for free or a system that provided that as well as a proper gaming console; I totally fucking would. I've had the delight of catching up on a bunch of old comedy shows without any commercial breaks, without any waiting for the stream to load and all of it legal. Bring it on.

I'd only recently discovered George Carlin (after I watched Jersey Girl and Carlin was great in it). So it saddened me to hear of his death and that anything of his that I hear/see will be tainted by the knowledge that there won't be further material.

If this happens it could be excellent as Nachmir detailed. In fact the points you brought up hadn't even occurred to me. My first reaction was 'What a nightmare'. Mainly what concerns me is TCR related madness that could ensue. When I worked in standards on the old Xbox there were actually issues that failed the HMS documents that only happened on Xboxs manufactured in China during a certain period. Now the idea of several Third parties being able to incorporate the 360 into hardware with different designs and different hardware requirements just has me reeling from the number of nasty bugs that are blatantly going to show up in later games and if anything it might make the 360 look even dumber than it already does with the RROD issues.

Actually, my first reaction was that it looked like Silverfall on the PC.

Could someone please ban the spammer?

I really liked this article, making sense of years of my Dynasty Warriors addiction (I managed to stop at 4 and have promised myself to wait at least 4 or 5 iterations before I buy another) http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=130273&page=2 It is a little too short but then it is difficult to go on for too long about these types of games. His number one makes perfect sense.

I would recommend Lift on the biotic side and Sabotage and Hack on the Tech side. Teh amoun tof damage you can do to superior odds with three people that have one of each of those abilities is ridiculous. I also recommend doing a few of the side quests first. Noveria was such a pain that I actually retraced all my steps when I got to the boss and levelled up a ton before attempting it.

The whole thing really. I mean Ha(lo)ze is an easy target. Especially as it was marketed as a PS3 'must have' exclusive and it turned out rather bland. I think that Yahtzee might have some kind of fit if he played MGS4. Those cutscenes are brutal.

Preferably Psychic Bears. There is a new one out, it be about Haze. Entertaining, if entirely obvious slagging off of the title.

Miffy, I'm not even going to try and compare the weather in Montreal to Edmonton, because Edmonton is one of the bitterest places I've ever known. I think there is definitely something in the way the weather affects our moods insofar as English weather is frequently discussed amongst the English due to its miserable, scizophrenic nature (and we Anglophones can be a miserable bunch sometimes) whereas in places like Canada you are too busy trying not to freeze to death to talk about it. All the people I've met from Edmonton seem to be a very cheery bunch, although that might just be because they aren't in Edmonton at that current point... Oh and thorn, if it is any consolation I'm now back in England for some of the 'Summer' and I'm currently staring at a horizon of black storm clouds.

While really ill I sat through the entirety of Samurai Champloo it is indeed excellent and the soundtrack surprisingly catchy. Just watched 'This is England' and '3:10 to Yuma'. This is England is great and has a great performance by a child actor. 'Yuma' left me pretty bemused, the acting was good but the story made no sense whatsoever. The ending is particularly unconvincing.

Really liked this article in the Escapist's most recent update: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_153/4960-The-Anatomy-of-Violence It is an issue that has been done to death in the media but no one seems to have taken it on in this quiet, intellectual manner. I read it, imaginning Noam Chomsky's voice.

You're right. The point I was getting at is that games are used as training, as a form of association. When dropped into situations where they are required to do these things they will remember the 'games' they played in training and recreate them. The reason I brought up the court martial issue is that the military don't like people talking about what reasearch they are doing into this stuff, so unfortuantely the guy who wrote the article is required to be vague about his references. I'm a bit surprised by the angry reaction to this article on this forum as he is simply arguing that, in the same way that playing puzzle games encourages our brain to solve problems that, under the right supervision, games can help trigger reflexes and, well, shooting people without thinking. He never tries to say that games make us raving psycopaths but that games can be used to 'help' us, if we choose to do so, fight rather run away.

That is madness, I'm in Melbourne right now and it is not cold in the slightest. Mind you I just spent 2 years in Montreal. Now that is what real cold feels like. It probably doesn't dip below 12 degrees centigrade in Melbourne, even at night.

Wrestle - Earth Defense Force doesn't punish you for shooting your team mates. Clearly this is one of those reports that is mired by Non disclosure agreements. The army is already using games that are not released to the general public as a way of training for exercises. Talked to an ex-army guy who told me of a soldier in his platon who released some footage of it on youtube and got court martialled. The article was written by a guy who works in the military and there is probably more evidence and data that he cannot even begin to quote with getting himself in trouble. I think the article is agreeing very much with what you guys are saying. He is saying that there is a correlation between playing a game and being able to train the mind to switch to a 'killer instinct' but that it is causality that dictates how we use that. The example of the cop disarming the robber and then handing the gun back correlates directly to him training his brain to do that. The reason that situation occurred was because he chose to become a cop. It might be possible for me to disassociate myself from finding meaning in human life but that it would take more than computer games to encourage me to do that. That I would have to chose to tap whatever it is that helps me to derive pleasure from killing virtual enemies to applying that to real life.

Much against (what I thought was) my better judgement I picked this game up for the first time a few days ago as I need something that I could put on and flow through whilst hungover. The action seems to ramp up in the middle (about 20hrs in) but my guys are all fairly immune to biotics and tech abilities so I rarely die and the game actually became more fun. I remember people complaining about the menu system when the original thread was open and I totally agree that it becomes bewildering and you spend waaay too much time just trying figure out who does what. Toblix I would recommend putting on full assist with your teammates (so that they use their abilities for offensive as well as defensive measures) until you get to to grips with what is going on. Edit: I'm really enjoying despite not really having a clue what is going on in the story. I was only partly paying attention to the story tree yesterday and it transpires that I have inadvertently caused a love triangle. I was only chatting to them for XP!

Done. If anyone goes to the Allnations bar in Melbourne they should see this invite. Fortunately I was not caught doing this as my real name is James too.

The Fragile was the album that I felt had the most depth to it. I listen to that one even now. Sorry, wasn't dissing L7 (pretend that we're dead is a favourite of mine), just surprised in Trent's choices.

Happy Birthday! Damn I miss the Druid's, nothing like a good Sunday Roast from there.

That game was awesome... I had to drag myself away from it while at work.