AndrewTS

Also, they mention that the neutering is gone completely. Ironic. Plus, look at precedent--they can't even have the original uncensored scenes in the game code for action replay hackers to uncover, lest the wrath of the ESRB and other rating agencies come down upon them.

Manhunt 2 to bomb in sales confirmed.

Wrestling goes out of its way to avoid logic. Like WWE's booking decisions. In the case of video games and bad movies, "it looks cool" justifies a lot of really stupid stuff.

A: Turn the development of an acclaimed Japanese horror game series over to a team of American developers, who not only have never made a horror game, but their past works are average at best games, and nearly all are licensed titles and beat 'em ups. Much like with Contra 4, Konami made a curious choice in who would be making the next major installment of Silent Hill. However, The Collective's track record has been spottier than Wayforward's. An Associate Producer at Konami, Tomm Hulett, though said "Konami is not giving developers a license, a check, and a deadline." Akira Yamaoka will be serving as an advisor, although unfortunately the bulk of Silent Hill V's creative roots are unknown at this point. 1up/EGM has been putting together a massive amount of coverage on the game; there's an EGM cover story on it, and the 1up site has new media on it as well. 1up Preview: http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162608 1up Exclusive First Look Video: http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/14542 Gametrailers link: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/103527.html Akira Yamaoka interview Part 1: http://gamevideos.com/video/id/14522 Akira Yamaoka interview Part 2: http://gamevideos.com/video/id/14523 (sorry, only gamevideos seems to have it up now) BTW, Shane was mistaken crediting Yamaoka as the "creator" of Silent Hill. Keiichiri Toyama was the creator, but left after the first game and created the Forbidden Siren games (the first game was released in North America as Siren). The biggest concerns I have is how eager the developers are about improving the gameplay...yeah, it's a nice thought, but in a horror game that's basically the last thing you want to worry about. It's good that it's not going to be like every Resident Evil game before 4 (Capcom admitted to game magazines the crappy controls would stick around to make it scarier), but the worry is there of it being creatively mundane at a time when the series needs one that is a creative blowout. Alex (the main character) being a former soldier could provide lots of excellent opportunies for pushing the series in a great direction creatively. The developers favor Silent Hill 2 above all the others, and due to that game having the main character's deep-rooted issues play a large role in things that unfolded (monster designs and some of the best scenes), we could see something similar here. I'll be maintaining my skepticism for a while...but hey, the game looks great and will sound great too. Hopefully that's not all, because I'd had for it to be a repeat of the Silent Hill movie's issues.

I know it came off that way, but they are quite different weapons. I know, I know. I just had a chance to call you a Smart ass...so I took it. On a serious note, I don't get why the crossbow is such a popular weapon in fantasy/horror, whether it's movies or games. The firing mechanisms are prone to failure, they take a bitch of a time to reload, and the range ultimately isn't all that hot. The advantages are a lot of power for a short-range weapon, You can have it aimed and ready to go without expending strength, and it doesn't require a lot of strength to wield. However, a longbow has better overall range, accuracy, and obviously doesn't have the reload issues. A pro archer can fire off 20 arrows a minute with a longbow. I blame crappy vampire movies. You almost always see somebody with a crossbow in there. Of course, it's a lot more similar to a modern gun--which is the reason why it isn't a stretch to be controlled by the Wii Zapper.

I played Half-Life and Deus Ex recently for the first times (I played HL2 before, though), and I'm still very impressed with a lot about those games. Deus Ex, especially. DE makes me think of what the new Shadowrun *could* have been. Half-Life's graphics and the gameplay is no great shakes compared to today, but the way the storytelling and presentation is done is still very good.

I know it came off that way, but they are quite different weapons.

That would be why he has to train.

I'll admit that, not being traditionally a FPS fan, I'm not as jaded overall to the genre. A game like Bioshock that blew me away was met with "eh, great atmosphere, but it's really not half as innovative as everyone is saying" by some more experienced players of the genre I know.

What he said. I've done 2 playthroughs already, btw.

Could you expand on that a little? Is the grinding indeed a problem? Is enemy avoidance as bad as I'd heard? Is the pacing poor and riddled with drawn-out grind-fests, fetching, or just general RPG-filler like that? Does the game try to be long for the sake of being long, rather than wrapping up before it's overstayed it's welcome? If that's the case, naw, it isn't really what I'm looking for. That's Toriyama character designs for ya. Dragon Ball/DBZ, Dragon Quest, Tobal and even Chrono Trigger characters all look basically exactly the same. Dragon Quest VIII looks almost exactly like the DBZ characters are all in disguise in an RPG. "Oh hey, there's Mr. Satan as a gypsy fortune teller! Oh look, Android 18 is a barmaid in a bunny costume! Those green folks are totally not nameks without antennae!" EDIT: Come to think of it, though... http://www.cvgames.com/wp-content/uploads/...ragon_large.jpg ...they remind me of the cg renders Square whipped up representing the Final Fantasy VI characters: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t...sy_SGI_demo.png And that cat-thing reminds me of Cait Sith: http://www.ffextreme.com/site/ff7dc/images/characters/7.jpg

Yeah, KotoR and FFXII don't really gel with me, because I don't quite get or like the free-movement + turn-based deal they got going on there. Not that it's bad, it just seems kind of annoying and slower than it should be. Ho-hum waiting for my character to trudge around and strike a baddie...I have the *illusion* of real control, but it's still menu-driven and cumbersome to boot! Plus FFXII's arcane skill building / job system made absolutely no sense to me. I liked the art design and the voice acting was superb, I just couldn't muster any care up for it. I guess that happens when you completely fall out of the series. However, I think Mass Effect looks fantastic. A real-time action-rpg-3rd-person-shooter where you actually have real choices in what you say and do in conversations? Yes, please. I'll admit that I should probably given KOTOR at least another shot, because I hadn't played much of it, and RPGs tend to suck in the first few hours anyway; they're not big on immediate gratification or granting you a wide breadth of skills, tactics, and interesting story early on. I'm in the process of downloading the Blue Dragon demo now. Although I never heard of team attacks in it, I heard gripes about the pacing and grinding, and I'd heard that while enemies appear in the field and are avoidable, they're too small and quick to effectively avoid. Eternal Sonata's been the most recent traditional RPG I've played to grab my interest. It's almost too streamlined and simplistic though if it's still the same as the demo. Why can't I choose who to heal?!

Since the discussion has apparently cooled down a bit, I have a question. Since I basically can't really stand most RPGs these days, but I really liked Chrono Trigger, is there a modern RPG (since, as we know, everything's better now and CT doesn't hold up at all) that features all or most of these elements? -turn-based fights on the field -enemies visible on the field and avoidablen (ie no random battles) -An overworld map where you can actually get around, not have to dread going in the wrong direction because you fight every 4 steps. -small overall numbers of skills/spells that still have plenty of important uses all throughout the game, rather than scores of useless skills that are rendered obsolete in a few hours of play. -skills have specific effects on certain enemies types; instead of "weak against", a certain spell can stun an enemy (lightning vs. robots/dinos), a certain spell may be able to lower a certain enemy's defense (a number of enemies and bosses), another can destroy weapons (fire on hammer-wielding trolls), etc. -combo techniques make party selection an interesting decision, rather than just x, y, z and whoever needs such-and-such skills raised. -fast-paced battles -skills with varying ranges, so that depending on enemy positions, it may be most beneficial to use a straight-line attack, a skill that attacks a small grouping but not the entire screen, a multi-character attack focusing on the two most powerful baddies, etc. -an excellent game balance and pace that makes grinding unnecessary. -wraps up in about 25 hours, and feels like half that, because the game isn't bloated out to the gills, padding the game to 50+ with tedious, fetch-based side quests and level grinding--although its completely optional side quests provide rich amounts of rewards and character backstory. -New Game + -Multiple endings attainable, bolstering the incentive to use new game + and replaying the game in general. If so, please share. Surely, there is, right?

They couldn't afford to make him look like that then. This pic was hilarious even back then: http://www.mortalkombatonline.com/content/...eptile/end2.gif

Stryker did have a gun (see his victory pose). However, he didn't use it otherwise until UMK3, where he can actually use it to shoot you as a move. No, it didn't actually *sound* like a real gun, though. You're thinking of his fatality where he shot a wire at you from his taser and lit you up. See, totally a gun! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htW-Sb-LBNY

There's 2 expansion packs. Shivering Isles is 2400 points (30 dollars), and Knights of the Nine is 800 points (10 USD). Your friend must have gotten KotN. 3200 points is $40.00. So getting the GOTY edition is the better option if you haven't already bought Oblivion. Oblivion GOTY retails $60 on 360 and $50 on PC. $65 vs. $60 (not counting applicable sales tax!) isn't all that bad, though. You're out a fiver and got to play it 2 weeks earlier; not a big loss. I think GOTY edition also includes the Horse Armor, or some bs like that.

Heads up to people: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition comes out this week, so if you don't have it already, you can buy Oblivion with the expansion packs all together.

Tonight's Robot Chicken episode features skits about Zelda and Sonic. However, the Zelda one sucks because You could also watch it on adultswim.com.

what the hell is Halloween doing still on there? It made 44 million?!

My own experiences calling N have been fine, but that's what happens with call centers too much in general. Achieving a low Average Handle Time trumps nearly all other concerns. Plus, they probably aren't Nintendo employees. Frontline tech support agents for most companies are commonly just employees at a call center that the company subcontracted to. But at least for N, they seem to all be native English-speakers.

I'm hoping we won't have to pay...but I guess that's an unrealistic hope. Another Bioshock-centered webcomic: http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2007-09-08

Wow, that's really stupid of Nintendo to be doing forced updates with the discs if so. So all your games are working now fine?

Eh? Why would you need to do that? Does it play other games?

*thumbs up*

So, the Lair scores suck. Sony decided to send a Reviewer's Guide out to many of the gaming and review press. Telling them how to play this game, with it's supposedly stunning, intuitive motion controls. Here's Chris Kohler's review of the Review Guide: http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/09/review-the-lair.html