World's Worst Man

Buy a damn wireless router you curmudgeon. Or better yet, download a SNES/NES emulator and the ROMs! I really wish the game had multiplayer, but I know..in time.. there will be a good Wii FPS w/ multiplayer, in which case you will get to witness my finely honed FPS skills for the first time. P.S. I'm surprised you picked that particular character for your signature picture, as opposed to certain others from that same show.

Nope, that's pretty accurate. The game becomes repetitive once you reach the point where all the gimmicky things you can do become a waste of time. I think the game is just another Halo, in that the gameplay has been done before by other games, and done better, but a lot of people don't have much experience with the genre, so the game is new to them. Which then makes the game seem incredibly impressive, and allows them to look past the obvious flaws in the gameplay. I guess it doesn't really matter other than for discussion's sake, and for the sake of FPS veterans who might be mislead by the hype. And maybe it will lead to more people seeking out those old RPG/FPS hybrids, like Deus Ex and System Shock, which is certainly not a bad thing.

The new Xbox 360 models have apparently been RROD-proofed. Not to say it could never, ever happen, but the manufacturing flaw has been fixed, and they won't be dying at an incredibly high rate anymore. If you don't want to wait for the 65nm chip models - which at this point might be pointless - you might as well buy now.

I killed him too so I could loot that music box of his. It was a pretty crummy reward though.

I just beat the game. The ending was like, 30 seconds, but I apparently got the "bad" ending, so maybe the "good" one is more satisfying. Story didn't have much impact, probably because the main character isn't developed at all. The little recordings you find throughout the game are definitely interesting though, and the setting is incredibly good thanks to some great artistic design. While the technical graphics are great, it's really the atmosphere and artistic style that's important, and this game nailed it. I ended up getting all of the plasmids and skills except for a health and evo upgrade. I "dealt" with all of the little sisters in the game, and I really didn't have to go out of my way to do it, as they're pretty easy to find. You're on a set path the whole game, it's just that the areas are somewhat large so you don't feel like you're totally constricted. Calling it non-linear is just very misleading - firstly because you typically only have one route to reach the goal, unlike something like Deus Ex where there might be 3-4 paths to reach the goal; and secondly, because there isn't anything to really do outside of the story, which requires you to be on that path. Sort of what oldskool was alluding to, there's only a couple plasmids that are useful, and the others are kind of just there. You can use them, but it's not as viable or efficient. The tougher task is balancing the tonics (upgrades to abilities) as opposed to balancing plasmids. Along those lines, later in the game most of the weapons end up being useless, and the ones that aren't will require certain ammo that is likely to be in short supply should you use it often. That means the electro shock plasmid + melee is the only way to really play the game for the most part. All of the cute trap setting and use of the environment also becomes worthless because it just doesn't do enough damage. So basically, around halfway through the game, you're looking at one option to deal with enemies - force. It's disappointing because the "variety of strategies to play the game with" angle was touted as one of the game's signatures. It might seem like I'm dumping on the game, but all of the reviews I read outside of the GameSpot one didn't accurately reflect the flaws in the game, so I figured I'd try to critique rather than just sing its praises. I'll have to take a hit from the game reviewers' magical bong to see a 9.5+ game here, nevermind a perfect score, but it's certainly a quality title, and one of the better single player FPS experiences you'll find.

As I advance farther into the game, it becomes apparent that there are a lot more skills available than originally thought. There comes a point when you can't just buy all of the skills available without leaving the area and farming more Adam somewhere else, which isn't very convenient (You get Adam from little sisters, which is then used to buy skills). I don't even know if it's possible, because theoretically there would be more skill vending machines in those other areas. There's also the fact that you get more skills than skill slots available, which further constrains your choices. You really have to decide how you want to play the game, and pick your skills based on that. It also adds a nice bit of replay value, because you could theoretically replay the game with an almost totally different character if you wanted to. I still wish stealth was done better, and that there were multiple paths to advance through areas, because it would even make the character customization that much more rewarding - but it's still nice to know that there are a lot of ways to put your character together.

AL MVP - Alex Rodriguez AL Cy Young - Johan Santana NL MVP - Miguel Cabrera NL Cy Young - Chris Young

Deus Ex took hits in its reviews because it didn't have great, technical graphics in the context of its time. It's a shame, because artistically, the graphics were superb and they managed to capture the feel of a near-futuristic, dystopian society perfectly. If it was remade today with BioShock-esque graphics, it would likely be getting the same scores. And therein lies my problem with giving BioShock a 10/10, since Deus Ex had better gameplay, and thus should be rated higher if all else was equal.

I'd say it's better than Half Life, and up there with Deus Ex for best single-player FPS I've ever played. The only big issue I have with the game isn't a real issue with the game, as it's mainly that gamepads are terrible for playing fast-paced FPS games with, as the analog sticks sucks for aiming. It's out for PC anyway, so if it gets really annoying, I'll just run it on this old rig. The 10/10's are pretty over the top, and are probably due to the reviewers being wowed by the graphics. Not to say the gameplay isn't great, because it is. But I wouldn't call the game better than Deus Ex, which didn't get anywhere close to those scores - the main difference between the games being Deus Ex didn't have fantastic technical graphics, while this game does. There's also a few minor things with the game, like being able to respawn close to the action for free, meaning you never have to use first aid kits. Against tough enemies, it often becomes more efficient to take the deaths rather than spend most of your first aid kits trying to stay alive. Stealth just seems to be poorly implemented, and the multiple ways to clear a room seems to have been overstated a bit as well. Usually you just attract the enemies' attention, and end up having to clear the room by force, because there's no time to mess around. Many rooms don't appear to have any easily accessible accessories with which to kill enemies either, which further lends itself to just blasting away. And then there's the fact that there really aren't many alternate routes to take like there was in Deus Ex, which makes stealth even less practical. Not huge stuff, but things that probably should keep it from getting a perfect score. With all that said, BioShock is still an incredibly intense and moody FPS, with great environments, some neat skills (even if they're not totally original) and decent character customization options. Crap like Doom 3 wishes it could be even half as good as something like BioShock.

Games should look much, much better going from composite to component cables, even when you take into consideration that a SDTV resolution will look better on a SDTV CRT TV. If you're stretching 4:3 games to fit the HDTV, that would account for the games looking worse I guess.

Are you sure this doesn't deserve it's own thread? I mean, it's no random Xbox Live demo, but it is pretty big news in its own right. But anyway, that does sound like something that could make me really get into the game.

It's possible that the system had a better heat-sink, which would mean a less powerful fan could be used, which would explain the quieter sound. That's one area with MS originally fucked up apparently - by putting a small fan in the system, which meant it needed to be spinning at a higher RPM than a larger fan, thus causing more noise. The PS3 for example, makes almost no noise at all, despite blowing plenty of really hot air out of its sides, probably because they used a big fan that could blow a lot of air out without running at a high RPM.

I have him on both my fantasy teams, hurray. He was not very good tonight, however.

The fact that it runs significantly quieter makes me wish I had waited to buy one of those, even more so than the HDMI or extra hard drive space.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/10/spot-the...mium-at-retail/ Well there you go.

The new premium 360 models have HDMI now. It had been rumoured as being added in the future, but MS stealth launched the new models just recently, so they're available now. If you're only getting one system, the PS3 is probably the better long-term purchase. And if you're planning to do the online thing, it will also be cheaper in the long-run, although not so much if they don't drop the 80 gigabyte model price down by spring 2008. As far as graphical peaks, that typically does not happen with video game consoles until the last couple years of their lifespan. The PS3 will probably peak higher than the 360, just due to it's (slightly) better hardware, but it's not going to be anything mind-blowing, or even significant to most people.

Has there been any talk at all about developers charging for non-MMO PS3 games? I certainly haven't seen it. It sure was. Although I'm sure Sony will follow in Microsoft's footsteps and take that route in the future. Maybe not parts, but they'll almost certainly charge for extra cars and race tracks that should have been in the game originally.

So I look at my fantasy team and I'm all "God damn, Atkins is a beast" and then I remember I started Gallardo today. That's quite the pitching line - 2.2 IP, 12 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 37.13/5.63/0.33. I always seem to start that fucking guy when he gets smashed, and he's on my bench when he throws a gem.

A record was broken with the assistance of steroids, yay! Ruth did it on beer, Bonds did it on steroids, and ARod will end up doing it on whores and screaming "HAH" as he rounds the bases.

PS3 has a better online service, mainly because it's free. Unless there's no one playing games on it, I don't see how Xbox Live is any better. Ok, it's gotten one bad review out of three so far, and that counts as "very, very poor"? Nevermind the fact that the bad review was basically some clown bitching about using the six-axis control to control the dragon (which from previews and other accounts is perfectly fine), and the fact that he had to, *gasp*, memorize which skills he programmed to which button. Lair isn't a game with a huge following, and even still people are talking about how big of a joke that review is. The PS3 is a better long-term purchase, as the system is almost certainly going to have a significantly longer life span. By Spring 2008, the Xbox 360 will have a better list of exclusives, and you'd think that they would have straightened out the hardware debacle. By the end of the year though, there's a good chance that the PS3 will have surpassed the 360 in quality exclusives, and the ports will start becoming superior to the 360 versions once the devs have had time to figure out the developer kit. I wouldn't put all your eggs into one basket. I'd buy the 360 in early 2008 and buy a PS3 later in the year.

I'm not really interested in playing the game online. Plus I think I have carpal tunnel syndrome from constantly flicking the wiimote to tackle.

I got it. Classic example of a crummy game that is addictive if played with other people. The gameplay is utterly, utterly broken and unbalanced, but if you have another person to play coop with, it's strangely fun.

You know, at this point I'm just hoping they're in the race with a legitimate shot at getting in. Even if they don't make it, it'd be nice to see some meaningful September baseball.

Perhaps, but that's hundreds of players during the "last 20 years" who have "at one point or the other" dabbled in the PEDs. It's not quite on the same level as Bonds or Sosa magically gaining 50 pounds of muscle over a year or two and then hitting inflated numbers of home runs. It's also not worth throwing out accusations when most of these players have never even been linked to steroids. Otherwise you can just say everyone is on the steroids, because who really knows right?

Interesting. I guess Ruth's career 207 OPS+ means more than I originally thought (compared to Bonds' 182). I'm not contesting the quality of Bonds' numbers, just the credibility of them. To me, it'd be like arguing that Ben Johnson was the best sprinter in history after his 9.79 at the '88 Olympics, steroids be damned. Steroids are a fairly significant, unfair advantage that Bonds has enjoyed, and that precludes me from ever giving him the credit that his numbers would normally confer. Where are the legitimate accusations and evidence that point to hundreds of players taking PEDs? Just assuming that there are hundreds of players on the juice with absolutely no evidence is pretty god damned stupid and counter productive. And it still doesn't mean anything when comparing Bonds to guys who played before anabolic steroids even existed. Maybe you should start thinking critically before whining at others to do so.