BlueYoshi

[color=teal]I'm glad that Sony released the EyeToy, and it's definitely not a bad thing. Hopefully further developments can be extracted from it to upgrade certain features in games. For example, the whole ordeal could somehow be applied to a FPS of some sort to enhance the gameplay aspects of it. Surely it'll give a rough idea, but nothing too serious at this stage. There has already been this kind of implantation in a few arcade games, like Time Crisis and this one platform where you swing the hilt of a sword at the censors to produce a slashing movement in-game (the name's lost me). These games may not have the best graphics, or the best storylines, but they are purely fun to play, and as long as that little piece of consumer satisfaction level is jarred in, then Sony have accomplished their goal with the EyeToy, I think.[/color]

[color=teal]I honestly don't see the problem with Odama. People want to see innovation in gaming just as much as Nintendo do, and by fusing a semi war-sim with a common arcade game I think Vivarium have served their duty towards that. It can't be that bad though, obviously I'll never know until I play it but from what I've heard it sounds okay. If I was to compare it to something, then I'd have to say Super Mario Bros.. Apparently the gameplay method is repetitive in each level, but surfaces difficulty as you progress, just as the first Mario game did. I can't be sure if it will be as fun and persistent, but the premise does sound interesting. Though I can't help wondering if it would still be getting bashed left and right had there been an entirely new concept, other than that of soldiers in a battle field.[/color]

[color=teal]Recently I've been playing the PC more than anything. I find the games that are released on it to be so much more convenient to play than on any other console because of certain gameplay barriers they might hold, like bad control systems or bugs. Action games like Max Payne, Hitman, Half-Life, and CS are too manipulative to work at 100% on consoles because of the necessary requirements they bare. If I recall correctly, Max Payne sucked pretty bad on the PS2 for a few reasons. So to speak, Doom 3 should run better on the PC than on the Xbox due to that, but I still anticipate it. I've not had much reason to play my SP under other circumstances except for on the couch heh. I haven't been into it lately though, I brushed through FFTA and LttP gets pretty boring when you're stuck, so I'd think that it's a case of what games are available that effects how much one would play on it, or any other system for that matter. I personally feel that the SP is solely good for platformers and RPGs; those two genres are hands down the best time killers known to handheld gaming, especially if lifespan is the game's high point. I don't think FPSs, or the likes of it, on the SP are feasible. They may be fun for multiplayer or a little session, but how long before you get completely bored of them for a while? Domestic titles for handhelds have a lesser appeal to me because I know I won't be able to occupy myself with them when I need to. As far as consoles go, the PSOne takes the cake for me, but not because I don't like the others, it's simply a case of the games available. I haven't paid any attention to FFV or VI, and I've had them sitting on the shelf for so long, so I decided to suddenly play them and see what the ruckus is all about, thus making my PSOne most recently active. Unfortunately, I had a brief problem with getting Disgaea: Hour of Darkness to run on my PS2, so obviously I never got around to playing it. My last encounter with the PS2 must've been a few months ago with Vice City where I'd just mess around or take a drive, but nothing serious. In terms of games I actually played through properly, the last one was FFX2 back in February. This year's E3 was a good one for Nintendo overall, and I'm looking forward to what's yet to come. Collecting enough money to get a DS is my main priority right now, and I know that it will be more than just a portable system, unlike the SP. With Nintendo's line-up for this year and the next I think the GameCube will be my number one most used console, and FSA and ToS haven't even been released here yet. So you see, the consoles I play in the present depend entirely on the type of games that are out or I own. People saying they don't like the PS2 or GameCube is just fanboy garbage because I honestly don't see how that has anything to do with it. I might run my mouth on how I prefer other controllers on certain games, but that's only to sustain the quality of the game for when I play it. Some people have different preferences which is fine, however, hating a console for its name doesn't qualify.[/color]

[color=teal]Panzer Dragoon is always a good choice, even if it may be old. You'd be better off playing games like SSX on the PS2 because the S controller may not be as comfortable to play with as you would find the PS2 controller to be, I think. Chronicles of Riddick is okay if you're looking for something a bit different from Halo; I've never played it but many reviews don't seem to stop complimenting the various stealth aspects that Riddick's versatile character makes possible. On the subject of stealth and action, you could also try out either of the Splinter Cell games or MGS: Substance. Both have stealthy bits in them that would definitely compensate for the slow gameplay, but still, they're genuinely fun to play, and easy to pick up. Personally, I'd recommend Splinter Cell if gameplay is your deal because between the two, SC offers so much more than MGS in those terms. Substance has a fair amount of VR missions though, but they can get pretty old quite quickly. Within the year to come, I think the Xbox is going to make for a good chase when it comes to RPGs. Jade Empire is Bioware's next RPG after the KOTOR series, so that should immediately highten its reputation judging by its success. As well as being an RPG, it has a few action elements aswell that should make it interesting, and that's what intrigues me the most, especially the slow-motion Focus mode that everyone seems to be hyped up about heh.[/color]

[color=teal]I thought it was going to get a Xbox and PC release. I don't see why not because that's where it started off afterall, kinda. I remember playing the Flash Game over at Newgrounds and getting bored very quickly, but yeah, you can't really expect much from a simple Flash animation. The game does promise high levels of entertainment though, so you can't complain there, and some of the best shoot em ups have been the most simple 2D ones... Contra, Metal Slug, Mega Man, Metroid 2. With that in mind, I definitely won't be doubting this for a second.[/color]

[color=teal]I think FFVII is seriously overrated. The whole concept of it is just plain and simple, and not really at all that challenging. It was great at the time, but now that the series has evolved so much I don't really want to think of it as the best. The battle systems in all the games are great, and I'll always count on Square to reel something new in each time. FFXII sounds very similar to XI in terms of battle systems though, except it has a few newer features like extended character AI and stuff, but none the less I think that ToS would be good match maker for it heh. To answer the question, my favourite FF game of all time is FFT. I'm a big fan of tactical gaming and FFT implements the criteria very well in almost every way, particularly the characters and the battles... they're just so fitting. FFTA was also pretty good, but only if you're on the go. I mean, it just doesn't compare to FFT because it seems to be the exact opposite of it in a very diluted way. But the best part of it comes from what Balmon was saying; the way you learn skills. Equipment is the equivalent of materia, and only characters who have mastered that certain piece of equipment can benefit from it. That encourages you to make use of the battles in different ways and forcefully puts Square's innovations upon players.[/color]

[color=teal]I beat Hitman Contracts today and it hit me how the last level was so similar to the ending of The Professional, except for the fact that [spoiler]Leon dies and 47 lives.[/spoiler] Both characters had the same goal by the end though, which was to [spoiler]assassinate an official one way or another, and they accomplished that.[/spoiler] For the most part, I think that movies have a massive influence on the development of storylines in games. Just look at Vice City or Max Payne, or even the Zelda games heh. In a way, they sort of provide a form of background on the genre for the game, so you already know what to expect and can get straight down to playing. You'll find that a game with its own type of story will be a lot slower and will take time to develop, unlike the above. FFVII for example.[/color]

[color=teal]I like the idea. You've got my vote on it, but the problem is that my net connection has been cut off momentarily. So you see, if I don't get it back then I can't become a solid contributor to the overall RPG, and therefore it wouldn't be as fluent. I'll let you know.[/color] :)

[color=teal]Another small problem about the GBA's shoulders is how they got incredibly mucky over time. It must have been something to do with the material they were made from because it never happened to the A and B buttons, and they were different. Not something I'd care much for heh, but they don't really look the part. It's like I said before though, hopefully Nintendo will pay attention to what was good and bad about both the GBA and the SP, and will apply it to the DS.[/color]

[color=teal]I was messing around with PSP 8 for a couple of hours today and came up with the conclusion that I'm useless at it... pure useless. So instead, I decided to try something a bit simpler; the art of cropping. To tell the truth, I always saw cropping as the easy way out and tried to avoid it, but with this little batch that I just made I figured out that it's merely a matter of using the right kind of images, which in this case, it happens to be Super Mario Bros. 1. In most of them I had to use a black in white in black border because as you should know, and as you can see, the first Mario game was very blocky and these images would've gotten pretty tedious quite quickly without a bit of colour, especially with the aid of the uber-2D backgrounds. They're all 150x80, large enough to be an avatar, so feel free to use them if you want. Enjoy.[/color] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/crowd.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/mario.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/warp.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/bulletbills.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/crowd2.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/faceoff1.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/faceoff2.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/hammerbros.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/luigi.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/mario2.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/mariobulletbill.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/nextlevel.jpg[/img] [img]http://upload23.homestead.com/toads.jpg[/img]

[quote name='Desbreko][color=indigo']Other than that, I like the look of the redesign, though I wish I could see the shoulder buttons. If they're the same as on the original GBA, I fear for my hands. For me, the R and L buttons on the GBA were the main cause of my hand aches, so hopefully the ones on the DS are more like the SNES ones. (I.e., not so dang close to the corner and can be pushed down anywhere on the button instead of only the outside edges).[/color][/quote] [color=teal]I think it'd be safe to think that. The SP was Nintendo's response to what GBA fans wanted improved from the original design, so everything good and dear about the SP that didn't work out for the GBA should appear on the DS. One thing I can't help thinking about is the fact that the DS is kind of a combination of the GBA and SP since it's both vertical [i]and[/i] horizontal. Due to that it should have a greater surface area, and so, both of your index fingers will have to extend a bit further over the shoulders to take the design's shape, which brings back your problem. The SP's design was mostly vertical, thus you could reposition your fingers over the shoulder's every time they started to cramp without them interfering with the position of your thumbs on the other buttons. Hopefully, Nintendo will get the DS all right the first time around based on their theories of the SP, so there'll be no need for another recreation of it.[/color]

[color=teal]Heh, I think you play as [spoiler]Big Boss in MGS3. It's a strong belief because MGS3 is set in the 60's, and Solid Snake hadn't been 'cloned' by then. Plus, Big Boss and MGS3's Snake both have their right eye missing? and Big Boss wears an eye patch there in MGS1.[/spoiler] Anyway, about your comments, it's true that the MGS games are a lot less playable than Splinter Cell because you're over-crowded with many cut scenes and Codec calls that dwell into the story far too much. Splinter Cell is very much the opposite and focuses purely on what stealth has to offer in video games. So to speak, it's really up to the player's preferences on which one is better. [quote name='::Ex-Soldier::']Yes, the plant was very very repetetive, but I wasn't expecting that damn stupid raiden to be a part of the game.[/quote] Yeah, SC had different levels each time, and each one strived originality and brought new developments to the game, where as MGS2 revolved around a plant for the most part of it. About that though, SC3 promises open levels, and MGS3 is based in a jungle, so they should really balance eachother out in that sense. At the moment, both games are highly varied, and SC3 has only recently been announced, so it's hard to suffice which is more compatible to its genre.[/color] [size=1][color=blue]Spoiler tags, man, spoiler tags. - Shinmaru[/size][/color]

[color=teal]Well, it looks a lot more professional than the working design when you compare it to the SP, and still looks just as simplistic. Hopefully the casing will have an efficient adjustable lock-back function so as it won't flop around up and down whilst you're playing since the top screen is as fundamental as the bottom, so precaution won't be needed.[/color]

[color=teal]Most UK commercials are usually on the funny side, so the producers wouldn't go through the trouble of casting live action stuff for the sake of 30-40 seconds. :( Providing Colin Farrell put on a bit more muscle and actually got into shape, then I think he'd make a great Solid Snake in terms of appearance. Then again, he really hates working out for movie roles, which leads me to believe that he's a Sam Fisher type of guy.[/color]

[color=teal]Yes, and the fact that Jennifer Aniston was acting in it doesn't make me feel any better about it. She's such a crap actress.[/color]

[color=teal][b]Name:[/b] Persephone Hermes [b]Age:[/b] 34 [b]Ethnicity:[/b] Greek [b]Weapon of Choice:[/b] Trident. [b]Biography:[/b] Was once a supreme war general in his native homeland of Greece. Apparently, Persephone's age got the better of him, and was forced to move down the ranks in place of a more youthful successor. Working at minimum wage as a measly soldier, Persephone took out his anger with the booze, draining bottle after bottle after bottle, hoping that it wouldn't be too long before he developed an ulcer, where he could finally lay in peace at his death bed without a care in the world. One night, after a long shift of guarding the front gates to the King's palace, Persephone found his way to the usual inhabitant bar that he'd gotten so use to and drank his depression away as always. By utter and complete coincidence, this "successor", who had practically stolen Persephone's life, made a guest appearance at the bar for a couple of drinks with his woman? totally out of the military act. Persephone divulged in the hatred he had burdened over shoulders for so long and immediately lanced at him, cutting him and his woman down in an instant. Many of the locals made haste to call the authorities, but by then, the bartender had already showed Persephone the backdoor so he could make a nifty escape and avoid imprisonment. However, had Persephone been in a sober state, he surely would've taken advantage of the opportunity and made good use of it. Unfortunately, all the excitement of that one night tired him out and pressured him to nap? where the next morning he woke up in a Roman ship. To this day, it still remains a mystery to him as to why or how he got captured that night. [b]Appearance:[/b] Persephone is almost always a gruff. Never will you see him in a respectable stature that's good enough for fellow man to see. Since the day he had been caught by the Roman slave drivers that unwillingly rushed him into this business, he has wore nothing but the same ragged, beige one-piece garb as was given to him weeks back by his captors. Time has caused it to become in-excessively grubby, and the rope that serves as a belt around his waist is starting to tear. Hopefully, he'll have found freedom before he needs a new one. It's fairly unpredictable as to how he'll persevere in a gladiatorial battle, equipment wise, because he hasn't really much choice. The "First come, first serve" routine has been devised well enough to make each fighter as blood thirsty as the other, even before the fight, so to speak, armour and chain-mail is all pretty random. [b]Personality:[/b] In general, Persephone is summed up as fearless and intimidating. His reputation precedes anyone who steps in his path, even to the extent that no one had ever dared to engage with him during battle in Greece. In his Roman province, you'd find him to be a very different man. Persephone is always sober due to the fact that alcohol isn't an option in his beastly state, and his cravings will sometimes make him viscous, particularly in the line of battle, which is a trait that he's been reckoned for amongst the gladiatorial ranks.[/color]

[color=teal]I've been waiting for a decent comedy since Meet the Parents. I haven't heard much about Harold and Kumar but if it's as good as you say it is then I might look it up. It's true that comedies these days are becoming more stupid than funny, or at least not laughable, and that's why I'd prefer an old British sitcom any day compared to the likes of Along Came Polly. But still, it's good to see that the genre hasn't been neglected.[/color]

[color=teal]I think the name is okay as it stands, to be honest, because it's simple and straight down to the point. The 'Nintendo' logo tells unfamiliar people that it's one of their products and will automatically get their attention because of the popularity of the GameBoy/Advance. The 'DS' part is effective since it very easily gives away its main theme and the purpose of it, hence Dual Screens. Another name would probably be cooler though, I suppose. As for new designs... I've always had a thing for this one: [img]http://www.hammersuit.com/jb/nintendo/nintendods-thumb.jpg[/img] A GameBoy, SP, and DS all in one. It's a triple threat! Plus it'll be a bonus for Nintendo's advertising scheme.[/color] :cool:

[quote name='Semjaza Azazel']Despite their partnership, they are still very seperate studios. Enix does its own stuff and Square does its own stuff as well. They've yet to actually collaborate on a project together.[/quote] [color=teal]Well yeah, but even if Square published or developed a game single handily, Enix will always be there to sweep in some of the credit, and vice versa. Star Ocean 3 is an Enix game, though the publishers are stated as 'Square-Enix', so officially they're together, and technically they aren't, see what I'm saying? That's probably why most people refer to them together. Crappy games? The worst game I have ever come across has just got to be Johnny Bazooka Tone. I had it on the Sega Saturn (it wouldn't have been too different on the PlayStation, I'd imagine) and the concept of it was just awful, not to mention the gameplay. An Elvis Presley look-a-like running around and shooting beams out of his guitar is just not at all feasible of a good idea. A disgrace to the platformer.[/color]

[quote name='Hayashi Hansuke']And also I had my Master Summon, Master Magic (as I remember..) and The Knights Of The Round as well in disc 1. (no joke I really had it!)[/quote] [color=teal]But you can only start chocobo breeding in disc 2 once you acquire the Highwind. Of the two American weapons, Ruby is supposedly the easier one if you don't count the All Lucky 7's procedure with Emerald. If you're hoping to use All Lucky 7's against Ruby then you'd have to be very precise when going about it because you can't hurt it with physical attacks while its nails are out of the ground... I dunno though, I've never tried it. To answer the question, my most glorious gaming moment was when I beat all of the Dark Aeons in FFX without using Yojimbo's Zanmato. As a result of that, my characters are insanely over-powered and their weapons and armour are completely maxed out, including Yuna's Aeons.[/color]

[quote name='James][color=#707875']And if you want to see where that idea is sourced from, you only have to look at the state of the Japanese industry right now. Console sales are flat and even the biggest titles have struggled to hit sales targets. There's clearly an indifference in that market right now, when it comes to new games.[/color][/quote] [color=teal]Definitely. Most of the current Nintendo best sellers in Japan are GBA games? classics for that matter. Just goes to show what we're going on about. MS will need a bit more attention if they're hoping to make it, though. Xbox Live was one of the key features of the Xbox when it was released, mainly to meet competitive demands with Nintendo and Sony, but also to let gamers benefit from interacting with eachother a greater deal more with some of their hit titles from various developers. Unfortunately for them, that little venture was a huge backfire on MS's behalf. When you take into account that Metroid Prime overtook Xbox Live's sales twice over from the week they were both released, you won't really want to reserve your faith in them again, especially that MP was just a piece of software compared to MS's short-lived stepping stone. The headset was probably the most decorous thing about it, I'd say. There are only two ways that MS can go in light of this; they can either continue to spiral around and achieve next to nothing, or try to out-smart both Nintendo and Sony at the same time with something new (not likely, heh), because it's blatantly obvious that Revolution and PS3 will support online gaming, and are extremely capable of advertising it well enough? MS just can't afford another blow like that. Right now, Xbox is expected to make break-even in 2005, even after they were said to have done it by now a few years ago. But by then, Xenon will already be on the shelves, so MS will need to concentrate on making decent sales with both of their consoles, giving Nintendo the opportunity to breeze through the market nice and easy, inevitably leaving the PS3 as their only real pressure. It should also be noted that the DS should be considered as "next generation". The way I see it, potential handheld LAN games would beat any plans that future consoles have regarding online play hands down because of the outstanding levels of convenience it would portray, and having two separate windows benefits the overall cause of it. So yeah, even if it is inferior to these upcoming consoles in technology and power, it certainly is just as creative in terms of its capabilities.[/color]

[quote name='Takuya']I'm sure most people have heard by now that John Woo is producing and possibly directing a Metroid movie. This brings up the question of who should play Samus Aran. After seeing Kill Bill, I think Uma Therman could do it, but my pick is Kirstanna (I think that's how you spell it) Loken, who played the T-X in T3.[/quote] [color=teal]There was also a brief Japanese Metroid Live Action TV commercial that aired over there, which showed Samus (played by Chisato Morishita -- nice interpretation of a blonde female lol) blasting her way through the Space Pirate's Mothership. It seems like a continuation of Metroid: Zero Mission, I'm not too sure, but it definitely has some sort of correlation with the game.[/color] [url=http://metroid.jp/diary/index.html]Check out the site.[/url]

At the moment, I'm most conceived by Nintendo's approach with almost all of their products, and not just Revolution. Nintendo have said that their plans with Revolution will revolutionise gaming to a whole new level by putting gameplay and compatibility as their foremost objective. At the risk of sounding hypocritical, they really ought to sort that out. Mario Sunshine was ideally poor when handling gameplay because it just made the whole thing seem a lot stiffer. If you look back in the day, the Mario games weren't at all glamorous, but they definitely delivered a good sense of rapid gaming. I feel that that quality has been overcome by today's variety of games. Of course they aren't to blame, but the fact that certain gamers have missed out on what we grew up with -- the younger audience -- has caused visuals to be all the craze. That's not at all where the money's at. Another thing I've noticed about these next generation games is that the more they are developed, the less they become addictive. Space Invaders was just a bunch of pixels slammed together, but the nature of it felt extremely challenging, and that's what urged gamers to play it more and more. It's something I fear for the future of gaming because evolution can sometimes be a bad thing, and it's something that's happening a lot more often. However, Nintendo are reeling themselves in to that target area; they really are aiming to aspire over their competitors with what people would call good gameplay. If you take a look at Donkey Konga's Bongo controller, you'll see that the structure of it enhances the way it can be played with only three main features, which provides excellent subtlety regarding Nintendo's plans.

[quote name='Bean](Hey, look, [i][b]I[/b][/i'] put a space in your name! Don't I get any bonus points or maybe a random cameo?)[/quote] Beat you to it. :p Seriously though, out of all 9608 members on this message board, I get brainwashed with my own personalised sequence. I must be loved. I honestly think that the interpretation of OB's homepage made it what it is... be sure that we'll see more of that, eh DW?

[quote name='James][color=#707875']Firstly, Microsoft is apparently planning to omit a built-in hard drive for Xenon. And secondly, apparently they are planning to avoid backwards-compatibility with original Xbox games.[/color][/quote] Yeah, Xenon's hardware is different from the original Xbox, so running lower-res games would be a bother. I don't think it was MS's original intention to go that way because Xenon will be using an ATI graphics chip instead this time. The Xbox ran on a NVIDIA, and some fall outs regarding MS's violation of their intellectual property rights caused them to switch over.