Anya

I don't know why you're bringing up lack of innovation and then listing 3 or 4 things it did first or did better then anyone else first. There's also the weapon swapping. I don't really care about that though. The point is that Halo is an old, simple formula but it still works. There's two kinds of "more of the same". That and more of the same that means it feels worn out or archiac. When you read the reviews with the proper context you can see what Jeff is saying, like when he brings up Zelda TP's nostalgic feeling.

He didn't rag on MM for being too different. He warned some might not like the changes. Which is true, a lot of people didn't. Being different is only a strong point when the changes are good. Halo 3's "more of the same" refers to just 2 other games with the first only like 6 years old. Zelda is another story, even if you just count OOT. Anyway, some games stay fresh and exciting longer then others. Metroid Prime's strength isn't it's core gameplay like Halo, most of it's appeal is things like atmosphere, puzzle solving, exploring and boss fights. That kind of thing is going to get stale fast if they use the same formula. I haven't played 3 but 2 did.

They were reviewed by two different people.....

Kitana. She's a ninja princess!

Don't upgrade her bar. She isn't around enough to justify it.

I think by late 2008 they'll be pretty much equal. 90% of their library will be the same and it'll just come down to whichever exclusives you prefer. Like the SNES/Genesis days I guess. This fall is pretty brutal though. Heavenly Sword against Halo 3, Bioshock and Mass Effect. It's too bad MGS4 wasn't ready and they couldn't keep stuff like Assassins Creed exclusive.

I am impressed by the Heavenly Sword demo. It is pretty much Goddess of War but it's a good copy and the autoblocking/countering system makes it feel just different enough. My main concern is that the blocking is very easy to abuse. Even if you're attacked from behind or ganged up on you still autoblock and you can't be hit rolling. Showing you when and how to block with the colors makes it easy to stop in time to block or dodge if it's unblockable. I have beaten the demo with nothing but counters. Against weak enemies you can actually put down the controller and you're invincible. I'm curious to see how it will work with large groups of harder enemies. I also hate the waggle controls. It's awkward. I have them all switched off. Even if it ends up being shallow and easy it should at least feel satisfying and look cool. All the cinematic kills and counters in the demo are great. I'll probably buy it. I just wish it was out now while I'm interested instead of waiting another month. Playing the demo a bunch got me in the mood to play an action game so I went out and got Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I never played Black so it's sort of new to me.

None. I do not read any reviews and I get the news from message boards. If I read an opinion piece it's because someone linked me to it to make fun of.

I already explained my SSB hate to you. I guess you want me to go over it for the sake of TSM or something... I dislike the concept. The execution of it was fine, it was better then any other "party fighter" I've played. I wouldn't even say I actually hate it, more like I'm just not interested. I played the first somewhat because I had friends that liked it.

No online play for Brawl would be pitiful. I'd love to see Nintendo's excuse. Even VF is going to be online now! The problem with Double Dash for me was the track design. Every track was boring. But it was fun playing as the Peach/Daisy team. "Hi I'm Daisy!!!".

Yes but they have the same core gameplay. I didn't care much about the first and I could see I wasn't going to like Melee after like 30 minutes of playing it.

A very angry Peter Moore will be coming after you.

It will be so hard to break Mad Axes with lag.

Everyone seems to hate their local arcade...so could you do any better? Let's say you start out with 10 games, what would you have? Remember you want to stay in business so you probably shouldn't let your bias get in the way! 1. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 2. Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection 3. Violence Fight 2 4. Time Crisis 4 5. House of the Dead 4 6. Ghost Squad 7. DDR Super Nova 8. Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 9.Mario Kart Arcade GP 10. Galaga/Ms. Pacman Fighting, shooting and racing are the top 3 genres of arcade games. I think I picked the best of the newer games. I'd go to this place at least. I would have put another bemani game but I'm not familiar with them enough to know what's good.

It's out in America. It's a Namco game so a lot of Namco stores have it. The track design is very bland. No big jumps or interesting obstacles. All the courses are the kind of tracks you'd see in the mushroom cup. You are randomly assigned 3 weapons for use reach track and most of them are just basic projectiles. The only good thing about is the novelty of playing Mario Kart in the arcade and the camera feature. When you sit down it takes a picture of your face and puts it on the characters head. So like I will be Peach with the crown or you can be Mario and have his hat and mustache. That is more fun then any of the tracks. GP 2 is coming out soon maybe it will be better.

So many arcade operators ignore the hardcore fighting game crowd and it's stupid. They seem to think it's still like 1993 where you can set up a SF II cabinet and it will automatically make money. If they would take care of the machines and use the settings the players want they could make a lot of money. Like with Tekken 5, if your machine isn't set to 3/5 rounds the players will just go somewhere else.

Tekken 5 DR, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Pretty much all the newer games everyone plays now. The genre has evolved since 1992. I think it's good to have a small retro section but not at the expense of the new stuff. Why would you ignore the hardcore? If you get a group of regulars they'll make a lot of money. I would have said Initial D if I had more then 10.

Tekken 5 DR, Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Pretty much all the newer games everyone plays now. The genre has evolved since 1992. I think it's good to have a small retro section but not at the expense of the new stuff. If you can get in a group of hardcore regulars they'll make way more money then those just playing for nostalgia. I would have said Initial D if I had more then 10.

Do you honestly think people are going to come to an arcade to play Street Fighter II? Everything you listed is like a decade old.

You must defeat Lick Joe to stand a chance.

You sound like a bitter old man.

The appeal of DDR should not be that difficult to understand. You're jumping around acting silly! As for the 2 or 3 "real" games that could take it's place....DDR would probably make more then those 3 games combined. DDR helps keep arcades in business.

The appeal of DDR should not be that difficult to understand. You're jumping around acting silly! As for the 2 or 3 "real" games that could take it's place....DDR would probably make more then those 3 games combined. DDR helps keep arcades in business.

Well I was right about him taking a shot at Tekken. This guy is such a terrible writer. He just rambles on without saying much. He barely talks about how the Wii controls work or even why the gameplay is bad or outdated. The only thing he says is something about "P+P+K" combos, which is him trying to use hardcore fighting game fan slang and getting it wrong. What was with the Killer Instinct reference? It's amazing he has a job writing and is seen as an expert of the genre.

Emergency Call Ambulance.