gdf

Members
  • Content count

    774
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by gdf

  1. Next² Generation Consoles

    http://www.gameplayer.com.au/gp_documents/XboxFanboy.aspx
  2. The Dancing Thumb (aka: music recommendations)

    Funnily enough I was snooping around the web for listens to them. For another good Bambi-related band, check out the indie Deerhunter! Last album purchase was Lightning Bolt's Hypermagic Mountain, an awesomely violent bass/drum duo who craft sounds that make me want to dance around like a nutter whilst puking at the roof! In the best possible way of course. I'm also revisiting Jeff Buckley's Grace and getting into Cool Kids' Bake Sale. Two fantastic albums.
  3. Alrighty then! I hate mixed messages. Ah well, I suppose I'll strike a happy medium. MGS4 = sixteen Giant Enemy Crabs out of ?
  4. Next² Generation Consoles

    I like playing certain games on PC (Fallout 3 is so much better with smooth framerate and mouse and keyboard, and it's the only real option for serious RTS and FPS games), and if I can play console ports with my wired 360 controller then by all means I will. It just seems there's no option because such a minority of developers are interested in it as a market. Remember, the barrier to entry is significantly higher than a box that you buy and get everything with; accessibility is key to the appeal of the console in the first place. Arguably, the Wii is just taking this concept to the next level. Although the PC can at times feel like the last bastion of the true hardcore gamer, there really is no option other than to spend a fuckton of money getting every system.
  5. Movie/TV recommendations

    Last week I saw Che: Part One. As a rampant leftie myself I very much approve Del Toro was a great casting choice, the script was tight, and although it was more a document of the revolution than a portrait of an icon, it was undeniably well executed, with a little comedy thrown into the mix, some utterly brutal moments, and action that infact out-actions a lot of Segal and Schwarzenegger films. Good start to 09 for films, 4/5 (is it OK to score films?) Tonight I saw Slumdog Millionaire. Not so enamoured with it, but it was still more than worth a watch. It's another endearing tale of courage in the face of adversity and even with Boyle at the helm, the mainstream sheen can't help but rear its head. Solid tale, I actually quite enjoyed it, but I feel it could have been a bit more grounded. It kind of seemed like an art house poseur. The overly ridiculous plot would have worked better as a comedy than a drama as well, but without the Trainspotting director it could have been awful and overindulged itself, 3/5.
  6. Next² Generation Consoles

    I suppose by then they'll all have just stopped working. Perhaps simultaneously. It could happen you kno- oh wait.
  7. Five BioShock sequels

    Always. This. Reaction. Do you need me to explain, or have I already been reported?
  8. Five BioShock sequels

    This is what I've been getting at for over a year. It was very obviously a black and white choice, so much so that I wondered why it was so vaunted a feature before release. There was absolutely no grey area, and I think to downplay its prominence in the context of the experience as a whole would be fallacious. Shadow of the Colossus had no choices; progression was based around destroying the monsters and there was a massive sense of moral doubt in that game even though the back-of-box bullet points didn't contain the phrases "Moral decisions" and "Multiple endings". Although it was an inescapably directed path by the designed constraints of the game, it is let on in BioShock that the player's actions were also dictated, rendering the effects of a Video game that was meant to be all about the player questioning their choices moot in my eyes. Anecdotal sensory experience perhaps makes me biased. In short, Shadow of the Colossus made me cry, BioShock did not, despite the fact it plainly made an effort to. It may have just been the ending, I honestly felt as though Levine and his team just said "fuck it" when they created the final encounter and half-baked cinematics. Had there been a few more outcomes that reflected the overall course of action taken in the game and did not just tally up and compare Little Sisters harvested vs Little Sisters saved it may have elevated itself to the status of memorable, rather than merely an enjoyable one-time fling (wouldn't have hurt replay value either). Maybe that's my outlook on games as a whole though. I see the Half-Life series as overrated because the actual game parts are no more than well thought out and moderately engaging.
  9. Next² Generation Consoles

    It's inevitable that we'll hear something before the end of 2010, but I could easily go another six, seven years without hearing of PS4 and Xbox 720. I hate the way developers seem to just be grasping the full potential of a system towards the end of its life cycle (look at God of War and Twilight Princess). I look forward to the day the advancements in tech are so minor that the industry relies entirely on software.
  10. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Damn, remember when games were fun? (amidoingitrite?) Oh, and I'd like to say that all the Thumbs guys have extremely sexual voices. I'm straight, honest
  11. New people: Read this, say hi.

    I don't mind if I get shat upon thoroughly for the first while, I'm just glad there's another secluded sanctuary out there to talk intelligibly about games as an artistic medium. I feel like an old man of internet gaming forums, I'm always the one sighing and shaking my head as another 360 vs PS3 flamewar is thrown up by a few thirteen year olds who just barely totter on the edge of the ability to think rationally.
  12. Five BioShock sequels

    I'm sort of agreeing with the second paragraph of that post, though. I think it just generally depends on the quality of the original. Timesplitters 2 remains an incredible shooter despite Timesplitters 3 basically throwing it all out the window. That was a case to the contrary I suppose, it wasn't that it remained essentially the same and became stale through repetition, it was that FRD tried to change things up a bit and strayed so far from the formula they missed the mark entirely.
  13. Nifty browser games (inc. Flash)

    Achievement Unlocked - Oh how meta. Auditorium - Music Catch + Blueprint = Beautiful.
  14. Next² Generation Consoles

    I honestly don't think we really need another generation. Graphics can get a bit better, hardware more stable and framerates (a biggie for me) all at a flawless 60 fps, but we're just about there and I have an inclination that this cycle will last longer than others. PS3 is still finding its feet, 360 continues to sell, and Wii offers enough for the casuals as it is. Nintendo will preserve that price point as long as possible. As for my current spread of play, I have all three consoles and a fairly high end PC, and the time spent on each is pretty even. I have to say though, having recently purchased a PS3, that its exclusives far surpass most on 360. I can't stomach console shooters because of the PC, so many of them are already write-offs. Banjo is great, and I love XBLA, but even "run of the mill" PS3 exclusives seem to be geared much more to the man who'd rather play solo. Obviously once the "new console sheen" wears away I'll play it a bit less, but for now I'm very much a fan of the PS3. Also, Yakuza 3 and Heavy Rain look to plug the enormous Shenmue III sized hole in my soul.
  15. Done, thanks *Rushes off to edit other posts* Also, buy a PS3, they're quite good you know.
  16. Fallout 3

    I didn't feel as though it detracted from the atmosphere, it just makes it a lot more tolerable to look at. 30 hours of green, brown, and greenish-brown really wore me down and this has honestly refreshed the experience for me. An no problem ThunderPeel
  17. Fallout 3

    Minor bump for helpful thing PC owners of Fallout 3 can use this mod to get rid of the unrelenting green filters. It's great.
  18. Game of the Year '08

    I am kicking myself for not mentioning Bionic Commando Rearmed alongside Mirror's Edge. The Swedes really outdid themselves in 2008
  19. Five BioShock sequels

    I can see where he's coming from though. If I'm emotionally invested in something and it becomes stale, I would perhaps feel it would have been better not to get involved in the first place. Lost is a great example, I didn't start watching it because I knew that even just one series of that many episodes wouldn't be able to sustain itself, and by the time series two aired, everyone I knew that had been following it gave up and the older episodes were ruined for them because of that. So they became engrossed in something and were eager to see what happened, but there was so much padding and bloated filler that they got sick of it and were left to wonder what would have happened had they been able to stomach more of the same shit. I see your point also, BioShock won't become an awful game just because a load of sequels are produced. Just look at Guitar Hero. I still have great memories of that franchise in the early days which can't be erased just because Activision bought it and are whoring it out something awful.
  20. Five BioShock sequels

    BioShock is already a third part. System Shock 2 is apparently amazing, but I dispute shelling out twenty five pounds for it on eBay when it's in a crappy CD case Every post I've written about games so far has been a , so I won't bother soliloquising about how BioShock has no replay value, weak core gameplay, the illusion of consequence and overrated story elements.
  21. Got a PS3 last month, and I have to say I really like it. I started Metal Gear right after I got the HDMI cable and forty eight hours later I finished it. The save was at twenty five hours. I liked it, but no way is it one of the best of last year. Tied up all the loose ends of the story nicely, but Kojima totally took the piss after halfway through act three. The cutscene/gameplay ratio was already pretty obscene, but I shrugged it off because, you know, it's Metal Gear, and I do love the sequences. As soon as you met Eva/Big Mama it went downhill. There were many a cool moment, but all of those were just barely game. Very much set-piece after set-piece with virtually none of the rather awesome sneaking that the original for MSX was meant to deliver. I think my problem is that I thought the gameplay in the first half was the absolute realisation of the stealth formula. It was decidedly Metal Gear, but improved to the point of near-perfection. That those sections can be finished in under three hours if the cutscenes are skipped, adn this seems like a horrific waste of good work. Even if they'd chucked a few hours of VR missions in there I'd have been happy. Everyone else seems to have been mesmerised by the big moments and superb visuals, and it frustrates me hugely that the best bits were infact the core gameplay rather than all the fluff surrounding it. You know what Hideo? Just remake MGS3 with this engine and all will be forgiven.
  22. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Thanks y'all. Hopefully these forums stay fresh, every time I join something it seems to be in decline, it's like a curse And I've listened to all the earlier episodes as well, I'm a bit of a podcast machine :3
  23. Devil May Cry 4

    I was a tad let down by DMC4. The third was a good return to form, but this was just kind of... meh. Had Capcom resisted putting Dante in it would have been a much more cohesive experience overall and additionally would have forced them to make more levels, ironically pumping in a little more variety. I've always viewed DMC as a bit of a 3D Castlevania, and the moment you're prancing around in jungles and big, bright open spaces, something has gone horribly wrong. The combat was solid as ever, but I really struggled to muster up the energy to see it through to its conclusion. Shame, it's probably a 5 or 6/10. Doesn't plummet to the horrific depths of the second game thankfully, but I'm looking for DMC5 to do something totally new. Or I'll just get Bayonetta.
  24. New people: Read this, say hi.

    Hey there. Listened to the podcasts since episode six when Brad guested, so I suppose I'm an ambassador from Giant Bomb. I love Idle Thumbs right now, and the original site seemed like a great idea. I go about singing "Games, video games, video games, video games, video games, video games, video games, video games..." all the damned time as well. So, yeah, 'sup?