AndrewTS

Ugh. Customers too stupid to realize why UMDs are dead.

*Is totally in favor of Star Ocean 3 renaming himself Valkyrie Profile* Oh, and from the "It's on the Internets, It Must Be True!" File: Wiiyou.com is reporting a list of upcoming Wii titles (with no source or anything credited): Spelling errors and misnaming of real, existing titles aside, I don't think this list really needs any thought to be discredited. LOL at "Shadow the Hedgehog 2" and "The Legend of Sheik." Scary thing is, I wouldn't be shocked at all if there's a Shadow sequel. I'm *so* ready for "Metroid Xterme," though.

I got a bit too annoyed with the clunkiness of the interface as well as the CPU partners' incompetence to look into working around it. Too bad, because the concept and characters looked interesting. Level 5 can do good work, but not consistently. DQVIII undoubtedly involved lots of Squeenix whip-cracking to get out a much more (relatively) polished product.

ON ROGUE GALAXY: I tried it. And yeah, your cpu-controlled party members are brain dead. You can change which character you control, but regardless with them in tow the game has way too much of an escorting feel to it than I'm willing to tolerate. That would be fine if you could go it solo, but you tend to *need* those assholes for the boss battles. I wouldn't recommend to anyone, really.

I think he was referring to Rogue Galaxy. If you haven't played it, it's like a poor man's Kingdom Hearts.

The game drops next week officially, but Gametap subscribers (with a non-crappy computer) can play it now if they so choose. Oh, and Gametap has a multi-part retrospective on the series up: http://tombraider.gametap.com/ Comparison shots of Anniversary (PC version that is) vs. the original game: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p...p;postcount=103

Got the game. So far there is, as mentioned, FANTASTIC VISUALS... Beyond that, while the RPG trappings are there and apparent, so far there's a heck of a lot of fighting. Attacks from the ground, attacks from the air, enemies that need to be beaten/weaked by special conditions, etc. However, you can't go all-out melee frenzy. The game borrows the strength bar that Secret of Mana had. You can attack with a big combo string, but if you don't pace yourself you could be left defenseless. Enemies that are killed leave behind Phozon, which can be used to power up your sword or grow your plants. I've only gotten a small taste so far, although it can be difficult/frantic to keep up with them and defend yourself. Because of the tenacity of the baddies, you'll have to eat food/heal up a lot. Thankfully, that's trouble-free, as it also borrows Mana's ring menu system. Each "stage" (battle, shop, npc hangout" is a ring. So you just need to either go left or right until you get to where you need to be. The many rings connect to each other via different doors and paths, and you can track your progress by pulling up your map with a quick button press. Lots of folks who got to play farther say the difficulty ramps up really high quick. I can imagine how, just based on on how sudden I'd end up fighting for my life so far. Having lots of fun so far, but if you like your RPGs heavy on exploration and plot you may not enjoy it.

Comments in this could be really funny on a less pro-Nintendo board. Ok, what all do you know about it?

http://kotaku.com/gaming/like-fine-wines/e...-360-263778.php If it's Streets of Rage 2 with online co-op--HOORAY!! If not, meh, buy Sega Genesis Collection.

I still make threads for games I care about, even if other people don't (post or care, that is). People have been trained well by Mole, I'm afraid. Plus we're in a bit of a drought on all 3 systems. Games that encourage interesting discussions and don't have "Guitar Hero" in the title appear to be in short supply.

The "Producer" credit is deceptive because he's just got his name on it because of the characters/world/etc and likely presented the ideas/concept to the Sega bigwigs. Naka didn't actually program anything or direct the project. Izuka did. Take a look at any interview concerning any of the recent 3D Sonic games. Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Shadow are Izuka's babies. Izuka is the guy that gets interviewed because he's actually doing the (shitty) work. Naka *isn't even a part of Sega* anymore. I didn't know Nakamura headed up Sonic Next Gen. I guess my first clue should have been that it's a bigger POS than Izuka's projects. BTW, Yojiro Ogawa is the lead on Sonic and the Secret Rings--he's the ex-Smilebit member who headed up Panzer Dragoon Orta.

Incorrect. It's Takashi Izuka to blame for those travesties. He's also going to be to blame for NiGHTs 2's awfulness. Naka didn't actively direct/develop those. I've never heard anyone call it gaming perfection. I don't see the problems with MGZ's design. Carnival Night Zone's problem is the level's too damn long and the music utterly sucks. It's about the only level I ever timed out on in a Sonic game ever. Sandopolis 2 and Carnival Night combined don't tick me off as much as Metropolis Zone in Sonic 2. THREE ACTS of that??!!? Good Lord. Angel Island, Ice Cap, Lava Reef, Hydrocity, and Mushroom Hill are some of my favorite Sonic levels ever, though. But since they're not in one true standalone game I still think Sonic 2 is better. On the whole, yes, I do think S3&K is a mixed bag. Everybody knows this. The two games by themselves are acceptable length for a Sonic title. So while, yeah, it's basically an expansion pack and a product of Sega's utter greed, you don't *need* Sonic 3 to run it. This is correct. The worst traditional Sonic platformer is, by the way, Sonic Blast on Game Gear/Master System.

There's a good reason for that--it began development before Sonic 2 did and was developed by a different team. It appears during the course of development Sonic Team/STI saw the Super Peel Out and the proto-spin dash Sega CD employed, and combined them in Sonic 2 to create the Super Spin Dash we know today. Bull. And rarely, if ever, is lamenting a game's "overratedness" ripe grounds for an interesting discussion.

As I said, no good exclusives. The only good games are compromised translations not worth messing with today. VF, NBA Jam TE, and Doom weren't exclusives, and even though the 32X versions have become obsolete since you can play NBA Jam TE and Doom on PS1 in superior forms. Even if VF1 wasn't obsolete there's Remix, VF2, and the newer titles. NBA Jam TE had the player scaling, but still had terrible sound. Wrestlemania Arcade was basically Genesis version with more color. Mortal Kombat II " " " " " " " Primal Rage " " " " " " " WWF Raw and Brutal: Paws of Fury added one extra character to each game plus more color. However, SNES versions still looked and sounded better (and Brutal still sucked; Brutally). 32x was the Sega CD Part 2: Now with More Color, Shittier Sound, and no Japanese Development Support. The glowing things on the armor? Lack of a helmet despite the thick armor? Ginormous jaw? He's too badass to wear a helmet despite being shot at all the time?

Your spelling of "Sonic CD" is atrocious.

I had no attention span for Oblivion or FFXII either. Just wasn't having any fun.

Don't think so. Crap happened and I didn't finish the list, tho I was close. I could resume it at any time; I have a few more reasons scribbled down somewheres. I should stop at 99 and wait until NiGHTs 2 is released. As far as bang for buck, the Saturn is the 2nd best system I ever bought. $25 at a pawn shop in like '97. #1 was the 10 dollar Dreamcast I got several years later.

It looks even crappier when you combine it with a Model 1 Sega CD--the front tray-loading one: http://www.gooddealgames.com/articles/Game...20Sega%20CD.jpg

As someone who owned that piece of shit, it's every bit the nightmare to hook up as he made it look like. And just like it appears, typically a game would have the Genesis do part of the work, and the 32x the other. See: INVISIBLE Primal Rage. Or INVISIBLE Virtua Fighter. Oh, and depending on what model of Genesis you would use, sometimes you needed to have an attached *adapter* slide between the 32x and Genesis to make it fit right, and an *additional* connector would need to be used on the cable that connects from the 32X to the Genesis. Not a problem if you got a boxed retail unit. However, if you were insane enough to pay whatever asking price the local flea market wants for it, chances are slim you would get all the cables. Oh, and there was something that you'd attack to the expansion slot on the Genesis as well if it wasn't already connected to a Sega CD. You'd just jam it on there and it would stick out of the system uncomfortably, like a catheter. The 32X is also the only Sega system with no good exclusive games. Chaotix is really lame, honestly. And that's what I thought when I'd played back in Jr. High. I couldn't deny it even though I had my parents drive all around the Pittsburgh area to *find* a copy of the game, then paid for it out of my own money. There's not a single 32X game worth hooking the damn thing up today. I've played basically every damn one of the games that came out here. Ask me about any one, seriously. After owning it for about a year I dropped it off my roof and watched it smash apart on the concrete below. Then I whacked it with a sledgehammer. This was long before any sort used game market or any large secondary market was big, though. My 32X and the set of games I had with it might be worth a whopping...um...$30 today. And like 20 of that would be for Chaotix.

"So what if there isn't anything good on PS3 coming out for a while! I don't really need to buy any PS3 games for a long time, as I've got such a huge backlog of PS2 titles already." ^^---I want to read/hear somebody say that some time and mean it earnestly.

Joystiq put together some vids for quick perusal (it's on Gamevideos though, so they may not all work): http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/24/uber-ubi...-video-roundup/

Splinter Cell: Conviction (currently 360 only) Trailer: http://www.exophase.com/industry/splinter-...ootage-1077.htm Pics: http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/902/902601/imgs_1.html Preview: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/790/790720p1.html Some animated gifs for the speed-impaired: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/5099619...0ee99e117_o.gif http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/5099619...29862f174_o.gif Naruto: Rise of a Ninja (360 exclusive) Preview / Trailer / image link: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/nar...tml?sid=6171339 Haze (PS3 timed exclusive, PC and 360 later) http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/05/22/haze-b...on-3-exclusive/ Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 http://www.jeux-france.com/news20340_rayma...2-en-video.html New Assassin's Creed trailer: http://www.xboxyde.com/news_4376_en.html Dark Messiah (PC to 360 port) Info: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=76769 Blazing Angels 2 Trailer and pics: http://www.xboxyde.com/news_4382_en.html Beowulf Art / Pics : http://www.ps3land.com/preview-50.php Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway Preview: http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1616...lls-Highway/p1/ Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, most of these titles are PS3/360/PC.

Naw, other folks/reviews have pointed that out too.

Songs *confirmed* for the game, not a complete song list...

1up previews on... SC:C: http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3159766 Assassin's Creed...'s trailer (not playable until Min-e3, bah): http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3159770