The Gaming Thread

[Broomjockey]

At least guitar hero is a pretty decent simulation of actual guitar playing, not a riverdancing representation on an arrowed mat meaning to simulate either dancing or ostrich mating season....

So there.



Btw, I should mention, I'm picking up GH3 for Wii before Christmas

[DarthRetard]

Yeah people with that attitude annoy me. For the record, in last month's Game Informer, Slash, in an interview admitted that GUitar Hero is more difficult than Guitar.

I just find it all in fun. I'll play DDR with friends, just not by myself, and the guys who are real good at that amaze me too. Especially the one legged DDR player...

[Andara Bledin]

Mmm.... games....

So many games, so little time....

Right now, I'm playing Phoenix Wright: And Justice for All on the DS. I just recently got to the end of Puzzle Quest, and I'm still at the 12th floor in Etrian Odyssey (much to Nekojin's annoyance).

One game we have that we like to always mention when people talk console games is Culdcept. That game is actually rather awesome, and most of the people we talk to have never heard of it. We've inspired no less than half a dozen people to purchase it after playing it at conventions.

^-.-^

[gunsage]

Actually, I group them together because I've successfully played (and more or less beaten) EVERY game "like that"...

- PaRappa the Rapper
- UmJammer Lammy
- Gitaroo Man
- Pretty much all tracks on pretty much all forms of DDR (yes, the later ones are HARD, but still playable)
- Elite Beat Agents
- Bust a Groove
- Guitar Hero
- Karaoke Revolution

I can't really think of too many others right now. I tried Amplitude or whatever it's called but didn't like it. I've been playing DDR since 2000, honestly, though lately I've gotten out of practice. By the way, now there's a House of the Dead 4. And don't get me wrong...I like the idea of having more than just a pistol (shotgun in 3, submachine gun in 4), but I feel they should've stopped at 2.

It was fun, it was challenging...it was just right. Oh yes...with all this Phoenix Wright talk, I'm guessing most people here enjoy adventure games, right? Check these out...

- Hotel Dusk: Room 215.
- Trace Memory.
- Indigo Prophecy.

Trace Memory isn't as good as Hotel Dusk, but it's still fairly decent. Indigo Prophecy is pretty nice, too, but it's an entirely different style in terms of adventure games. The nice part is most of these have become cheap now and are definitely worth checking out. Obviously, there's also the surgeon games for the DS, but I've yet to check into those.

[DarthRetard]

I still set guitar hero apart from all those others, because, I don't know, it just seems so broken from the mold.

Guitar Hero takes the idea of being a rock and roll star, and puts it right into your hands with an effectively simple yet difficult concept.

I mean, DDR/Stepmania/Pump It Up are all great in their own respective rights, but the fact that the guitar hero franchise has taken something so american, and musical, and brought one of america's greatest musical forms and put it back into the playlists of people young and old, and helped bust video games right into the mainstream, it just seems so much higher above the rest.

[Gravekeeper]

I love the hell out of EBA... ><

I've 4 star'd ( AKA Vinyl Bimbo Mode ) EBA and S Ranked it all....that wasn't enough so I picked up the Ouendan import ( The original Japanese EBA ). 4-Star'd ( AKA Schoolgirl Cheerleader Mode ) and S-Ranked that. Then I picked up Ouedan 2.....4-Star'd and S-Ranked that. Dear god the last song is the most evil fscking level yet. Plus Ouendan 2 halves the size of the circles in 4 Star. Its ebil.

Now I deliciously await either EBA 2 or Quendan 3. I'm not picky. Just give me at least ONE of them soon. PLEASE.

I can't rest on them until I've 4 star'd them all and s-ranked the finale. I have some sort of latent, devious need to prove complete mastership over the grove. Be it in English or Japanese. ><

[gunsage]

Yeah, I was wondering if they were going to do any other EBAs. I mean, seriously, it's one of the top ten DS games. On top of that, it's something so painfully original and easy to pick up that it's great for just about any player. Theoretically, DDR could also make it on the DS (much like you can use the PS2 controller on console DDRs), but this is much better because it also implements the stylus, which is normally used crappily on other DS titles.

As far as Guitar Hero vs. DDR, here's my thoughts...

- Guitar Hero is great because they didn't try to say "Hold down the X button and flip the control stick to hit the beats!" or something retarded like that. No, they GAVE YOU A GUITAR. Nice.
- DDR on consoles isn't all that great. Sure, it's nice that they did make them, but I've yet to find a reliable dance pad that adequately rivals the steel stage in the arcades. When I can't FEEL what I'm hitting, I screw up constantly.

This is the primary reason I enjoy the trainer. I know the timing well enough that I still get in a good workout while truly knowing whether I was on or not. In other words, no I don't play on the keyboard...I set it to autoplay, select a song, and dance along. If I'm not doing so hot, I cancel the song, take a moment, and pick another one.

The great part about Guitar Hero vs. pretty much any other dance/rhythm/music/whatever game is that the peripheral is very true to the actual, uh, "genre" they're trying to emulate...in this case, a guitar player. I've seen Beatmania packages where they give you a mixer of sorts and I'm not sure if they've brought out an American Keyboard Revolution or whatever.

Now, as far as arcades go, yeah, there's no comparison between Guitar...whatever the hell it is...in the arcades and DDR, though they were both made by Bemani/Konami. Oh, and speaking of shooting games, here's my favorites...

1. Police 911. This is the only mo-cap shooting game I know of and it's GREAT. Alternately, I also enjoy the boxing game, but I can't find it anywhere anymore.
2. House of the Dead 2. This is especially fun if you put in credits for two players and dual wield!
3. Time Crisis 2. Alone or two players, this is an excellent update to the original shootout, uh...shooter game.
4. Quick & Crash. Actually, this is more of a ticket game than anything at most arcades. Basically, you're timed and have so many shots. There are four rounds where you have to hit moving targets, stationary targets, and a cup at the end. I love it because I always set first place for time and accuracy.
5. House of the Dead. Yeah, dual wield is fun here too. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

That's about it for now. Oh yeah, the new Growlanser? Well, it's fun, but I'm not liking the story so much yet, the skill system is awkward at best, and the buttass hard difficulty makes grinding a must. In any case, I'm sure it'll be collectible, so if I end up truly hating it, I should still be able to sell it in about a year or so for some ridiculous amount.

[Andara Bledin]

I love the hell out of EBA... ><

Oh, yeah.... so far, though, the Divas are still kicking my ass...

I haven't (yet) bought either of the Ouendan games, but the are on my list.

^-.-^

[Geek King]

Well, I'm playing through Guitar Hero III now. God, but this one is alot harder than the last couple. I never make it much past the normal level, though. My fingers just can't do the Orange button for some reason. Really irratating since I can coordinate healing in an MMO with both hands fully used, and I can kick some butt at Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter.

I'm also getting back into City of Heroes and City of Villians for a change of pace. If you're interested, send me mail under the Global Name Kitten Nyan-Nyan. {Um...don't ask. } I have characters at several different levels on many different servers, including a 50 hero (Mirrriya) on Triumph. Oh, and my roommate plays too, so just leave a message if the person you're talking to doesn't seem to know what you're talking about.

Lessee...I finished Ratchet & Clank: ToD on PS3. I'm a little let down over the ending. I need to play the others I guess.

Also playing Folklore, but I'm not sure I like it yet. It has an origional plot, I'll give it that.

Oh, and Tabula Rasa's bonus playtime is going now too...They've made some changes to the better for release, but it still kinda feels like WoW with [real] guns....big, honking guns...heehee. I'm playing as Geki on one of the servers, but I forget which. PM me if you care, and I'll pass on the info.

On top of that, I have four tabletop gaming groups going now, one of which I run the game for. We're playing Fading Suns, D&D 3.5 Spelljammer, Conan, and a Mekton Zeta/Silent Death mix.

All that and government Tech Support as a day job. Whee!

[Broomjockey]

I picked up Hellgate: London last night, and it seems like a really good game. Though it's hard to tell for sure. I keep getting a "cannot connect to server" error trying to download the patch so I can play multiplayer, and single player I keep getting horrible graphics glitches like my screen turning off, then back on, with the camera in a different place. I'm hoping to get the patch off somewhere else, hopefully, or else I'm in for some serious issues.

[Geek King]

I picked up Hellgate: London last night, and it seems like a really good game. Though it's hard to tell for sure. I keep getting a "cannot connect to server" error trying to download the patch so I can play multiplayer, and single player I keep getting horrible graphics glitches like my screen turning off, then back on, with the camera in a different place. I'm hoping to get the patch off somewhere else, hopefully, or else I'm in for some serious issues.

Oooh...that's out?

<Office door slams>
<car starts>
<Engine fades into the distance>

[Gravekeeper]

I would just like to add that I *love* me some frickin' Team Fortress 2.

So if you're ever on www.TheMachine.org TF2 server look for Xhaiden and you may get to shoot me in the head. =p

Bonus: I play with a mic. -.-

[Jet]

I picked up Hellgate: London and a new 8800gt card the other day. Game is pretty fricken sweet!

[gunsage]

Yeah, one of my coworkers was playing Hellgate last night. I wasn't aware it was out either, but it really doesn't matter because I'm fairly certain I can't play it on my current PC. On a brighter note, here's to tax time! I plan on building a computer after I gets the tax moneys. Also, still hammering away on Phoenix Wright 3 on the third episode (probably about done on it).

Beyond this, I went back to playing Atelier Iris for the PS2. It's a good game, but I really wish I knew why it had the glitches it does. Normally I could ignore them if they were small, but it's almost as if the loading algorithms were an oversight or something. It causes the audio to get crappy and all that.

Once I get done with PW3, I need to start thinking about the next title(s) to get for portables. I may have to check out Manhunt 2 for PSP. I'm REALLY interested in Manhunt 2 in general, but if they screwed it up for the portable, forget it. Actually, Silent Hill Origins may be a better choice. Under normal circumstances, I'd consider FFT, but I've already played and beaten it for the PS1...I don't really see the purpose in doing it all over again.

[Broomjockey]

So if you're ever on www.TheMachine.org TF2 server look for Xhaiden and you may get to shoot me in the head. =p

Bonus: I play with a mic. -.-

Score! I've been looking for servers to play on! I've got a mic too! So we can trade trash talks!