Video Games

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:58 am

Okay, Denizens, advice time!

My job and low expenses give me the means to save up for a new game system (and the assorted paraphenalia) in a month or six weeks. And be guilt-free about it, too!

My main question:

Is the Xbox 360 worth the technical problems?

Obviously, I'm considering getting one. I've played some of the games--Mass Effect being one which impressed me. Prototype looks awesome, too.

I know I'd be able to get games I'd enjoy. But.

Air conditioning is a problem right now, so a system in my room could easily overheat.

If the stuff about the Red Ring of Death isn't exaggerated, I could just shell out for a new PS2 and some of its notable games; God of War, Shadow of the Colossus and some others. Or maybe a DS and some of its games. Either way, I need something new.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 3:02 am

Thinking of buying some of the super monkey ball games on the Wii as a gift. I don't care about their taste or their choice. Is it playable and was it fun for you? What can you guys tell me about it? just wondering?

TarkisFlux · Post by **TarkisFlux** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 4:56 am

The first Monkey Ball they put out for the Wii is playable, and also a pain in the ass. It's like the first two, except instead of decent control with an analog stick you get as good control as you have over the angle of your hand. Seriously, tilting the controller is like tilting the board to roll, and it takes some getting used to. They added the ability to jump, which makes for some slightly new puzzles. And they have bullshit boss fights (I think, been a while) where you have to roll yourself around and jump at them at the right time from the right direction.

There is also a big collection of minigames on it that kept my wife occupied for a while, and brought her more enjoyment than the main game. You could do worse Cynic, but if you can get the first two in the two-pack for the gamecube you could also do that and skip the fancy waggleness.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 5:37 am

TarkisFlux wrote:The first Monkey Ball they put out for the Wii is playable, and also a pain in the ass. It's like the first two, except instead of decent control with an analog stick you get as good control as you have over the angle of your hand. Seriously, tilting the controller is like tilting the board to roll, and it takes some getting used to. They added the ability to jump, which makes for some slightly new puzzles. And they have bullshit boss fights (I think, been a while) where you have to roll yourself around and jump at them at the right time from the right direction.

There is also a big collection of minigames on it that kept my wife occupied for a while, and brought her more enjoyment than the main game. You could do worse Cynic, but if you can get the first two in the two-pack for the gamecube you could also do that and skip the fancy waggleness.

So the ability to jump was added in one of the latter games and the minigames are fun, good to hear.

Yeah, i loved the gamecube games myself. Unfortunately, I don't want to get them the gamecube games since, the bastard parents would kill me, I heard, a posteriori. It seems these retarded kids have not realized that the controllers can be turned to the side and be used as regular controllers. The parents want to keep that up seeing that they have them on wii fit and boxing and all that other shiite for about 1.5 hour or so a day. Get them outside or in the gym I say. fvcking TV.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:50 am

You know, I've finally beat Ninja Gaiden 3 for the Wii Virtual Console and I just fukken realized that most NES games aren't very long.

In fact, it seems that the harder the game is the shorter it'll probably end up as.

It gives me a lot of appreciation for games like Super Mario Bros. 3 which gave us a cubic asston of variety and stages while keeping a reasonable challenge level for the whole game.

Also, I don't care how hard your game is. You put unlimited continues in it, jackass. I hate that shit in Ninja Gaiden 3 where I have the first four stages goddamn memorized so I never die, then I blow through my five continues on those fucking floating platforms in Castle Rock. It's NOT FUN to have to go through all of those stages over and over again so I can get my ass kicked by floating platforms, okay?!

RandomCasualty2 · Post by **RandomCasualty2** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:21 pm

Lago PARANOIA wrote: Also, I don't care how hard your game is. You put unlimited continues in it, jackass. I hate that shit in Ninja Gaiden 3 where I have the first four stages goddamn memorized so I never die, then I blow through my five continues on those fucking floating platforms in Castle Rock. It's NOT FUN to have to go through all of those stages over and over again so I can get my ass kicked by floating platforms, okay?!

Yeah, having to start all over from the beginning is so fucking annoying.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:03 pm

I like my PS3, because it plays so many games and movies. If you're tight on space like we are, it's the system of choice.

If you want to play two-player games, then you ought to focus on the Wii. The other game platforms pretty much suck for two-player games because they keep focusing on selling games to the same million players over and over like the music companies in the 60s and 80s.

-Crissa

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:51 pm

I thought there were quite a few multiplayer games for the three systems this time around. I used to be frustrated with my PSX & later my ps2 due to the limited 2 player-ness but still the games were mostly single player games.

But these days the rage seems to be wireless controllers and network games and multiplayer on the same system I thought? I can very well be wrong about this as I do not have a next gen right now and I haven't played anything next gen in almost a 8-9 months. But I'm just asking. Seeing that is what it seemed as though people kept asking for in many polls at least two years ago when next gens had just come out.

Count Arioch the 28th · Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:30 am

Although there are multiplayer PS3 and 360 games, they're rare. You see, Sony and Microsoft figured out that if you make games multiplayer, multiple people share systems and games. However, if you only have online only multiplayer, then you can sell multiple systems and multiple games. Not only that, but you can charge people per month to use your network instead of using existing internet. Then not cancel their service when they ask to cancel it.

Wii is a great system, but be sure you research the games. There are some excellent games for Wii, but the system is majorly plagued with shovelware. For every Mario Galaxy and Da Blob, there's dozens of gimmicky motion-sensing games that suck.

Get a PS3 if you want a bluray and have a really good TV. Bluray is great, but if you have a crappy TV it's not really that much of an improvement. Otherwise, the 360's DVD player will be alright. (Personally, I'm just going to get a bluray burner for my computer next year and a good monitor. But to each their own.)

TOZ · Post by **TOZ** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:46 am

Maxus wrote:Either way, I need something new.

If money is an issue, I say PS2. God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, and others will keep you plenty occupied until the 360 comes down in price more, and will be cheaper than the $30-60 you'll be shelling for all these fancy new titles. Hell, you want a FPS, get Timesplitters 2. It's worth it for the level where you help your past self bypass the security systems.

As for the 360 hardware issues, it does happen. I've had to replace mine once. But there are good games for it, like Dead Rising. Overlord is a hoot as well. Those should be a little cheaper as platnium series or whatever.

And the DS would be a good choice as well. My wife has been playing FFTactics Advance2 since I made the mistake of loaning it to her. I bought a second copy just so I could actually play it. The portability of it is something else to consider.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:24 am

Also, people who play one-player games generally don't play multiplayer games and vice-versa, so the platforms' markets are different.

Generally, you'd want to service both (larger market), but Microsoft doesn't want to and Sony isn't backing the game producers either way.

I do play more hours on my DS than anything. And yes, I bought one for my spouse so we could play some games together.

-Crissa

TOZ · Post by **TOZ** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:47 am

Don't feel bad, Crissa. I bought my wife a PSP so we could play the coop missions on FFT: War of the Lions. The PSP God of War was just a bonus.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 8:04 am

Crissa wrote:And yes, I bought one for my spouse so we could play some games together.

When my former room mate bought a DS, I traded my PSP in for a DS so that we could share games, effectively splitting the cost (that is to say, if she bought Pokemon and I bought Disgaea, we could each play both. Not actual price-splitting and co-ownership to argue over when moving).

I wasn't that addicted to any of the PSP games, so it pretty much worked out well - I mean, they were fun (Samurai Warriors, Katamari, some weird rolling one I can't remember the name of with cheerful music and an interesting play mechanic), but the DS also had fun games at the time.

Crissa · Post by **Crissa** » Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:03 pm

Loco Roco is the one you're not remembering. I played it before it was bought up and named, but they haven't released it on any other platform since.

-Crissa

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:29 am

Loco Roco, that's it! It was a nice, happy, FUN game.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:55 pm

Looks like I'm committed to getting a PS2 now. A friend had several games I was thinking of buying, and was willing to just long-term loan me (That is, until I beat them/get tired/go ahead and cough up something like fair value).

Damn my frugality.

On the plus side, FF12, God of War 1, and Shadow of the Colossus. They'd run me about $60 otherwise.

TOZ · Post by **TOZ** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:28 pm

Score Maxus. I'd loan you Timesplitters and anything else you were interested if we were anywhere near each other. I'd recommend SOCOM: Navy Seals if you want a decent stealthy 3rdPS.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 6:35 pm

I've actually never been much on shooters of any kind, but I appreciate the offer.

On the Gamecube, my main bunch of shooters is the Metroid Prime games.

As an aside, I'm of two minds about calling them shooters; the games are really movement/exploration based, and it bucks some of the conventions of FPS's. Like you generally don't have to worry about ammo, and enemies take a beating. I know people who think Metroid Prime 1 & 2 are trash because you can't move around and aim at the same time, but the bald fact is that you don't need to do it; it's not like enemies die after a headshot and all you have to do is get enough fine control. They take a beating at first, and it's only when your arsenal expands that you get something that lets you breeze through previously tough challenges.

Oh, and there's a lot of puzzle enemies, and bosses are pretty much puzzles, as well.

/rant

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:30 pm

Why does the arcade version of Turtles in Time suck so much compared to the SNES console port?

I played this game a lot in the local arcade when I was younger, never really understood the 'OMG it's awesome' appeal... but then I played the SNES version, which had more variety and less unfairness and I understand now.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:31 pm

Of course, I like a few of the animations for the arcade port better, like Metalhead's weird spinkick motion and the Turtles' self-effacing grin when they eat pizza.

But the game has Rat King and Slash. So, no contest.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:39 pm

I know people who think Metroid Prime 1 & 2 are trash because you can't move around and aim at the same time, but the bald fact is that you don't need to do it; it's not like enemies die after a headshot and all you have to do is get enough fine control.

Speaking of shooters with whacky control, I started playing P.N. 03 a little while ago. I'd read enough about the game beforehand that not being able to move and shoot at the same time was much less of a jolt. It's very fun so far, even though I did end up using all my continues before I got to the first save point when I started in Normal mode. I spent a significant chunk of today's brief period of computer access reading about the Trial Missions and discovering that I may have already missed the Easy Mode unlockable.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jun 28, 2009 11:25 pm

Sometime soon, I'll put together a full-on rant and analysis of Metroid Prime, complete with videos. I really enjoyed those games, and even borrowed a Wii so I could play Metroid Prime 3 (that took a lot of horsetrading to arrange.)

The control scheme isn't really whacky. Left analog to turn/move, D-pad to switch visors (which, yes, is important. Your scan visor gets to be your "What the Hell's that?" button and later bosses and enemies require you to use the Thermal and X-ray visors), right analog stick to switch weapons. Hold the right shoulder button and use the analog stick to free aim, hold L to lock onto an enemy. B to jump, A to shoot, X for Morph Ball, Y to shoot missiles.

And the platforming isn't bad. I spent a little while (oh, thirty minutes?) getting used to the perspective, and then I was increasingly landing where I wanted to. I can't remember the last time I missed a jump, despite several playthroughs.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:39 am

I didn't get very far in either of the first two Metroid Primes, (They are on my to-finish list about halfway down), but the game they most remind me of is Unreal. I like first person games with an emphasis on exploration, and these certainly fit the bill. The ability to pick up additional information by scanning things or reading messages (in Unreal, you use a pocket translator) definitely adds to the world, but doesn't slow things down if you just want to keep moving.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:29 am

Can any of you supercool dudes recommend me a good Card Battle game?

Surgo · Post by **Surgo** » Mon Jun 29, 2009 3:41 am

I actually liked the old Yu-Gi-Oh! Stairway to the Destined Duel game for the Gameboy. It was like the Gameboy Pokemon TCG game, which was also surprisingly excellent.