AndrewTS

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3163198

Yes it is, and I recommend it. However, if you have any doubts it's an essential item or process, google it. I recommend especially doing it for startup items, because you never know what crap might have latched onto your system.

No problem. You're only mistake was mixing up two awful mid-90's game systems. And it is 3D*O*, the letter. Besides the obvious 3D in the name, it is supposed to stand for "3 Dollars only," the licensing fee for publishers per game disc. You're welcome for this stupid and useless bit of trivia.

Considering how few of us probably ever owned Macs or downloaded the later Windows ports, why don't you elaborate (with spoiler tags, of course)? I've tried to get into Durandal (the demo at this point), but it gives me headaches, so I doubt I could put any major effort into trying to get into the trilogy. Especially with the rumors of full-on remakes for the series.

I remember SSFII getting "more of the same" comments for the SNES but SSFII: Turbo getting rave reviews for the 32X. There is no SSFII: Turbo for 32X... You're thinking of the 3DO, which got good reviews, but cautioned with "the controller sucks, buy the special offer capcom pad or a stick!" However, that was because it was offering a near-arcade-level port in an era where heavily compromised 16-bit translations were the norm.

"Hey, open up!" "Password, please!" "You've got to be kidding me, what password!?" "The password so we don't open the door for Brutes!" "Do I sound like a Brute to you?" "Well, you could be held prisoner by Brutes." "If I was held prisoner by Brutes, and knew the password, then the Brutes could just force me to tell you the password so, you know, you'd open the door for them." "....okay, now I'm definitely not going to open the door." "But we need ammo!" "Well why don't you ask your Brute buddies, then?!"

Why does a game have to be innovative to be a great game. The two things don't necessarily have to go hand in hand. It doesn't have to be. However, a lot of the 9.5+ ratings were largely because of how "innovative" Bioshock was.

Maybe one of those was actually an innovation, the rest were things that were innovated by Half-Life 2 and copied by many, many others. Who said anything about Zelda? You. I honestly don't care about the 8.8 business, but rather some of the things that Gamespot published regarding the whole matter, including that childish tirade the head editor put out. But hell, I'm biased of course. My point is that First Person Shooters aren't a tiny genre with only a select few good titles. The field is jam-packed with many,many other similar games. I'm saying the competition is stiffer for a FPS, and Halo isn't really forced to meet or exceed its competition in the genre, because it's Halo. Likewise, Bioshock...which I absolutely *love*, and probably is my Game of the Year...got ridiculously high scores. 90s. 95s. I think an 100 here and there. I think it's a great game. The atmosphere, visuals, art design, controls were all great, but its core gameplay elements were very derivative. It was an outstanding game to be sure for lots of reasons, but it wasn't nearly as innovative as every review outlet gave it credit for. Maybe it deserved a more humble score for it...but nobody really gave it one, except for Edge. OTOH, there aren't many games that directly position themselves to compete with Zelda on its own terms, it being a mesh of an RPG, action, and adventure title. Ever since Ocarina to present, the list of similar titles is small and relatively lacking in quality. The only similar titles on the same level as far as quality would probably be Beyond Good and Evil and Okami. If the games are still among the/the best around (they are), it doesn't matter what system the last game is on. Similar games may not have evolved much either, perhaps; what standard are you holding it to, then? Criticizing a game/series for lack of innovation when it retains solid gameplay and incredible polish is a cop out. While I disagree with AlexPuma a lot, the fact that it's solidly a good thing in one review and a bad thing in another is hypocritical. Yes, it is obvious there's a different reviewer, but that just betrays the loose or non-existent standards of the publisher. And in the case of Jeff, it is one reviewer using it as a point against a game, and then letting a ridiculous score slide for some roster update sports game. This would probably be the correct answer. Review scores are a complete joke. They're arbitrarily assigned for the sake of people with short attention spans, written mainly from writers with short attention spans and questionable credibility and credentials.

The (entire) Halo series is "more of the same" if you play much in the way of FPSers... Core gameplay definitely is a strength for Prime 3 because of the controls. Halo's strength is its core gameplay? I'd dispute that. It's solid, but it's not innovative, the level designs are often good but not exactly mind blowing, and of course it has more limited scope than Prime as far as objectives (go here, blow this up. Kill this guy). I can't think of anything the Halo series did that Half-Life didn't do 9 years ago, except for the massive firefights, recharging shield, vehicles, and dual-wielding. Besides, you said yourself that no Halo 3 scores are going to be bad, nor even above average. They will all be extremely high.

So, Metroid Prime 3 is "more of the same" and gets docked for it... and Halo 3 "stays true to its roots" and gets praised for it. I see double standards here. You left out the funniest part about that, in the Halo 3 review:

You don't have to, because it's wrong. The Wii discs are not DVDs, but Wii Optical Discs. It and Gamecube discs use the exact same technology. It's similar to a DVD, but the format is designed to provide faster loading speeds. This extends to the Wii discs, and has nothing to do with the size of the actual disc. The Wii discs are basically just larger, but provide the same benefits.

I still remember my friend and I playing it just about straight though, getting to the ending, and simply dropping our controllers and walking away when that travesty of an ending came up. Of course, it helped that we couldn't understand a damn thing the Gravemind was saying, so it's scenes we're pretty much lost on us. Strange; I actually caught just about everything Gravemind said. Anya was bitching about the sound mixing, but except for one cutscene I didn't really notice any major problems.

That's awesome... ...if it's the PS2 game that came out a few years ago. I'm guessing it's the crappy new one based on the movie, though. I beat Halo 2 campaign last night, and I'm really pumped Halo 3 now. Although I guess I'd be ticked if I had to wait years for the sequel after that non-ending.

The levels are larger and have more detail, or at least thats what I figured. I don't mean the *obvious* reason, I mean how they'd spin it to make it seem like it isn't a serious deficiency of the hardware. All the talk about "innovative control schemes" and "offering an experience the other consoles can't provide" is all well and good until the Wii is gasping and wheezing to support a game that looks like nothing more than a gussied-up last-gen title. Thankfully, we have next-gen consoles to support games like that.

They didn't get Dana Delany for this? WTF. Her returning was one of the only good things about BA, even if it emphasized all the more how shitty the writing was. IMDB gives Bruce Timm a writing credit, so I assume this being better has a lot to do with him helping to save Capizzi's script.

I guess I didn't expect a localized American game to show up at TGS. I thought it was Gyakuten Saiben 5 being shown...

Bloodrayne 2 comes with a copy of the pc Bloodrayne...1. Kind of like Bloodrayne the movie came with Bloodrayne 2 for PC. That's real value.

I'd like to hear their explanation for the door lag being the worst it's ever been in the series.

I passed on it because of how lousy Brainiac Attacks was, but I guess now I'll rent it unless Cartoon Network shows it within the month, like they did with BA.

I'd definitely say Halo campaign had a lot of weak areas (the forerunner ruins were so repetitive that the game used some ridiculously contrived guide arrows to basically always point you in the right direction). However, the game got overrated so much because it was a launch title and it was still very good. That almost never happens unless it's a port. I'm not sure if it actually brought anything in the way of innovations to the genre, but it was the first console title I can think of to have split-screen co-op that ran very smoothly and the auto-recharging shield. I have no comment on multiplayer. Halo 2's single player, which I just started, I'm enjoying immensely. From production values to the scope of the enviroments to the overall variety of play, so much feels fresh and fun compared to the rather pedestrian Halo campaign. I love some of the small, added touches that weren't in Halo 1--the new weapons, vehicle hijacking, dual-wielding, and the terrific soundtrack. What do you mean by "Halo 2 actually was a step backwards instead of forward"? EDIT: I just popped in Halo and...there's a update available from Live. Wha-guh? That seems strange, because a big deal was made at E3 supposedly about how well the A.I. has improved, but I guess it's plausible there are people who haven't played a Halo before...

Would you care to substantiate that with some supporting arguments, so that maybe a discussion can be made? Otherwise, based on some of your past posts, it seems like you hate it on the principle that its a FPS with some of them darn Space Marine-ys. Would be better with a ka-wai-i robot and a 2D perspective?

1up's details on the new Kingdom Hearts projects: PS3 rumble is official: http://kotaku.com/gaming/breaking/sony-con...mble-301715.php Secret Agent Clank for PSP announced: http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162960

Matt answered your main questions, but I advise against getting a used system. It likely will red ring. You might end up buying a hacked console that was banned from Live. It likely will be out of warranty, and if it dies and it isn't a red ring issue, you're out a lot of money. If you buy a new system you can get one of the ones with the extra heatsink installed, the 1 year warranty along with the 3 years red ring protection, and typically you can get a brand new game free. Plus you're guaranteed to get all the accessories. A used one might be missing the headset or something. Hint: if it's a 20GB with an HDMI port, it's 100% definitely got the extra heatsink installed. That includes the Halo 3 360, if you want that hideous thing.

Microsoft has decided to be utter dicks and start banning Live accounts for people who are playing Halo 3 now: http://kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-live/play-ha...nned-301408.php They seem to figure it doesn't matter that there are people who legally obtained retail copies...

LOL, it's a bit late for that. EDIT: Plus, somebody has reviewed it: http://kotaku.com/gaming/big-in-japan/fami...lo-3-301319.php OVR of 37/40. Pity no one there will be buying it. I guess they figured it doesn't matter, because it's Japan.