Noyb

Reminds me of Tom Lehrer's "A Christmas Carol". Can't find a good streaming version atm, but worth seeking out. Key quote:

In progress: Phoenix Wright 3 (last case, saving for a long flight) HL2 Episode 2 (up to the car part) Metroid Prime 3 (up to the heat beam, gave up for a bit b/c of spread-out savepoints) Guitar Hero 3 (Seventh set on expert is EVIL, EVIL, EVIL with the chord changes) Purchased but untouched: Rock Band Mario Galaxy Mass Effect Zelda Phantom Hourglass Freedom Force 2 Okami Killer 7 Unpurchased, but want despite the long backlog: Zack & Wiki Exit (Live Arcade) Aquaria (indie PC game, like 2d Metroidvania underwater)

The DRM-idiocy is even stupider than it sounds above. For example, I downloaded the *free* Halo mjolnir mix song for Guitar Hero 3 at a friend's house, on my account, and on my same hard drive. When I returned home, I couldn't play the *free* DLC that was downloaded on the same hard drive, same account, but different xbox unless I was online. Same thing for Space Giraffe, except that cost money. So apparently downloaded content is tied to the hard drive AND the box, and switching any one, even if you recover your account (where like steam, it can only be recovered onto one hardware at a time), requires you to be online to use what you already purchased or even downloaded for free. I guess their reasoning is that if it's tied to just a box, someone will have their friends download their games onto the box, then never go online again, but it's still ridiculously annoying for the legitimate user.

It's not because they're recognizable, just that all but 10 or so are repetitive as hell. Maybe the reason that they're recognizable is that they repeat the same catchy riff ad infinitum until it gets stuck in your head. Repetition is decent for hooking you on the radio, but not that fun to play for a good number of the riffs here. I really felt the repetition going down the setlists, doing the same riffs over and over and over again within a song. Then again, I still have yet to go down the list of bonus songs.

The one where: Hilarious.

I would have posted this in the Feedback forum, except that it was shut down a while ago. Anyway, Thumb-reviewed Asteroids on LSD game Spheres of Chaos is now freeware in preparation for a major update next year. Honestly, I can't really describe it anywhere near as well as the above-linked review, so go read it now. The game can be downloaded off of the official site. I haven't had time to try it out yet, but I loved the demo when the Thumbs initially recommended it, so I'm sure it will be entertaining, especially for fans of Space Giraffe.

Speaking of speaking of game OST's, I've been listening to the Phoenix Wright Meets Orchestra soundtrack. Godot's theme is amazing, and the court suites are *epic*. If you like orchestral Video game soundtracks, also try to track down "Smashing...Live!", the orchestral version of the Super Smash Bros. Melee soundtrack.

I played it (4-player co-op) for a couple of hours at a friend's house. Damn fun. The guitar parts are slightly less crazy than in GH3, but that's fine with me as that's around my current skill level. HOPO's are much harder to see, although they follow the same logic as GH 1 & 2, so are easier to intuit than GH3's HOPO's. Drums were very fun, although I was only slowly catching on to the kick pedal (in all 4 difficulties, btw). What's cool is that a drummer friend of mine was able to pass songs on expert out of the box, so I guess the claims of realism are founded to some degree. I only played it for one night, so I don't know anything about long-term peripheral quality, but what I played was very fun.

:\ Sad to hear that.

Oooh, really? Wiki and the official site branding made me think otherwise, although a quick browse in their forums reveals an interesting Sony PR piece: Very cool news if true. I really want to be able to play that game without investing in the PS3 somewhere down the line. Now to hold out vain hope for the other games I listed.

Apparently Rock Band's timing is tighter than GH III: http://www.destructoid.com/destructoid-review-rock-band-54901.phtml

To be contrary to many gaming forums (and indeed my own opinion since I don't feel like getting a PS3 at the moment, not do I actually know anyone personally with one), here is a list of exclusives that intrigued me. - MC Escher is in the hizzouse. Haze - Second Sight and Timesplitters were solid action games. Haze looks to carry that on. Heavy Rain - Successor to Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. Was supposed to be multiplatform, but is now funded by Sony. Everyday Shooter - Top-down shooter with procedurally-generated acoustic guitar soundtrack. Metal Gear Solid 4 - Self-explanatory. Honestly, I'm happy with my 360, and don't feel like getting a PS3 at the moment, but there are reasons to want it. I forgot, do you already have a Wii, Erkki?

From what I remember about Carmen Sandiego, it was more visiting a geographic location, asking the locals about where the thief fled to, then using those clues to find the next location in the trail. Not really like Phoenix Wright at all, although it is like what you hoped it would be like. Zoombinis, Oregon Trail, and Carmen Sandiego kicked ass. So did Math Blaster. I also have fond memories of Reader/Math Rabbit. Random kid's games I have fond memories of (not including the lucasarts adventure games, which kicked ass as a whole and defined my childhood, and since most of you know about them here anyway): Museum Madness - Explore a broken down museum with a robot, fixing exhibits that broke down from a virus. It included an almost creepy puzzle involving how to load an American Revolution rifle step-by-step. I thought it was cool as a kid, and will thus refrain from playing it again in order to preserve those memories. Tiny Toons: ACME All-Stars - A surprisingly fun kid's sports game for the Genesis. It included both soccer (Euro football) and basketball. What's surprising is that fouling was an important part of the game. Any character could body-check another to stun them, even goalies. What was cool was that all the characters had special moves to turn the tide, like a Mario Strikers long before the 3d revolution. Seeing Buster Bunny do a slam dunk with his ears made the younger me happy. Pepper's Adventures in Time - Sierra adventure game about a young girl who travels back in time to prevent Ben Franklin from becoming a hippie. Seriously. Even though it was a kid's game, it still kept that frustrating Sierra ethos of random player death. Pushover - An ant must topple all the dominos in each level with a single push. Damn fun puzzle game. The link goes to the faithful remake. My writing style has turned to crap this late, so I'll stop. Might continue later.

Have you tried using System Restore to roll windows back to an earlier date just to make sure it isn't a software issue? It does sound pretty bad, though.

My eyes! You're right about the generic gameplay not being adequately disguised by a trippy graphical ethos.

Nice recommendation. I like it. Unashamed Brit-pop with a bit of the lyrical wordplay of The Decemberists and a hearty helping of self-deprecation. Dang, it's $25 on amazon to import it to the states. Tempting, though this season has been hell on my wallet. This line really set up my expectations for the album:

Finally beat the boss on hard. Finally being able to go into practice mode and wrap my head around some of the tougher riffs without having to deal with the BS of his attacks helped immensely.

This isn't feedback, but speculation based on reviews. Gaming is an expensive hobby, and there is no demo out for Assassin's Creed, so the opinions of those who have played it (reviewers and friends) are the only basis I have to go on about the game's quality without plunking down the significant up-front cost to try out the game. Normally, I'm able to get a decent picture about a game from a cross-section of reviews (like Dreamfall got middling reviews, but I knew I would like it), but I can't quite get a clear grasp on that in this case. I'm not saying "OMG Asasin's Crede is teh gayz. I now it sux and will never ply it to pnish ubisovft for lying 2 me!" I'm just saying that at this point of time, in the middle of a busy gaming season where I can't afford most of the games that I want out at the moment, these mixed reviews are making me wary, shelving my desire to play this game until a future time when it drops in price and my free time clears up.

Please be foreshadowing, please be foreshadowing. Also, you can abuse them a bit:

Agreed. Damn fun episode. I liked that there were more red herrings this time around. I also liked that they made efforts to change things up, at least with the street layout. I was stuck on the same puzzle as you, oddly enough.

If you want to fit in around here, buy Psychonauts. And by buy, I mean buy off of Steam or Gametap or Double Fine's official site or that Xbox 1 marketplace that's going to be in the new 360 update, not steal. Then you'll see why we're excited about Brutal Legends for reasons other than the x-treme trailer.

From the results of me wanting to collect everything, I think they somehow made it rewarding. Or maybe that's just my love of the game talking. Regardless, they did have a few neat twists in the collecting. The figments being drawings representing parts of the characters' psyche was a nice touch. The vaults rewarding exploration with backstory go along the same lines, as do the mental baggage having a secondary reward of concept art.

Congratumalations! You're older than you've ever been, and now you're even older. And now you're even older And now you're even older

Welcome to the thumbs. Out of curiosity, how did you find this place? (And don't say "googling 'pokemon friends codes'" or trying to score HL2 from total strangers.) Edit: Oh. That was fast.