revlob

1st generation games? I thought Zelda looked quite nice, hardly technically impressive but excellent art direction. Launch titles are hardly the best indication of a console's true power.

God, 3x3 eyes. I remember catching an episode of this on C4 years ago. The only bit I remember was some guy shouting something like "By the name of Yakumo Fuji, I summon forth TOJO!", and this great big spider came out of the ground. At the time, I found it the funniest thing ever, for some reason.

Trust me, you will.

And then you’ll be very pissed the next time you play a game that has the right camera setting again.

The camera in Gears of War was all over the place after playing too much FFXII.

So much truth. I was trying to play the two games at the same time, and had to concentrate for a few moments the first time I adjusted views in either game. I'd swap between the two games every other day, and it was doing me nut in. I contemplated reversing the axis on GoW, but that would have gone against my beliefs.

I assume the obvious answer to the original question was the DS (Lite)? At least that's what people usually seem to be raving about when it comes to opening up the market and diversifying the target audience. I guess the PC has been around longer, has been gaming longer, and has found itself in a much higher number of homes than any console can hope to achieve, but I don't think the connection is really made between PCs and "games", outside of the "hardcore" gamers.

I reckon a lot of people play computer games but wouldn't say they did because games are something you play in front of your television while holding a controller. A quick blast on solitaire/bejewelled/runescape doesn't count to them. An ambassador is supposed to reflect their representative in a good light, and while PCs don't really misrepresent games, they don't help especially to improve the image of gaming in society's eyes. Looking through the BBC's technology archive would suggest either the DS or Wii as better ambassadors really.

By the way, I haven't read the article in question.

Doesn't sound like RPGs are your bread-and-butter when it comes to gaming, as repetitive combat is somewhat a staple of the genre.

I would say after the mines is when things really pick up, as that's when you get a full party for the first time (IIRC), and so gameplay strategy becomes more important. But despite FFXII being quite a radical departure from many of the the JRPG norms, if the ideas of stats, levels, and large explosions don't interest you, then you're probably playing the wrong game.

If you meant to pay only to cover the costs of media/postage, then I can kinda understand, but it's still a very tricky subject as the very idea of money changing hands goes against the ideals of many fansub groups and fans, let alone forum moderators. In essence you're paying for something which is illegal, so why would a gaming forum want to risk helping you out?

If you're really stuck without internet and desperately need anime, why not try finding out if your nearest university/college has an anime society? We had a very active and friendly one at mine, and we would swap CDs with unlicensed stuff on all the time.

it can be pretty hard to keep track of everything due to the amount going on.

How the hell is that a criticism? The whole point about SC is it's supposed to scale things up several notches from your traditional RTS. "Oh shit, I've been allowed to build more than I'm used to, this sucks". From the sounds of things, GPG have added some really nice interface controls that should helpfully breathe some life into the genre. Just because some reviewer can't get his micro sorted, doesn't mean that's a flaw in the game, for christ's sake.

This is relevant to my interests.

Ugh, why are they planning a 3rd already? I thought the whole idea about II, at least its 360 incarnation, was that it was supposed to be the very model of an expandable franchise supported by DLC on Live. Instead of spending all that money on a whole new game, just release extra song packs/guitarists/guitars/venues on the Marketplace.

Hey, didn't they say that about Snakes on a Plane?

I cook noodles a bit like I cook pasta. I tend to undercook rather than overcook for bite, plus I find adding a bit of oil to the water helps. With pasta I use olive oil, but noodles are nicer with sesame.

Awesome, a Picross thread! Mario's Super Picross was legendary, played it for a good part of my final year at uni. I'm going to have to pick up one of these DS titles, but I might wait for Nintendo's Picross DS.

Just put down Quicksilver (the first of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle), and will start reading the second (The Confusion) tonight.

Holy crap! My FLCL Ultimate DVD Collection just shipped! I ordered that ages ago. So, er, anyone like FLCL?

Saw the trailer for this last time I was at the cinema. Looked very interesting, and I don't usually go for the historical drama genre. Didn't seem to grab the attention of my girlfriend though. The reviews I've read seem to run parallel with what you say, but I don't know if I'd be able to convince anyone I know to go see it with me.

The Levellers

Burts Chips - Firecracker Lobster. Hands down the single greatest crisp flavour of all time.

I must have spent somewhere between £1k to £1.5 over the last year. That includes a premium 360 plus several accessories and games, a launch Wii with a couple of games and some VC Points. I'm still buying games for the PS2, DS, and PC too.

Screw gaming, I'm getting into Transformers, it's much cheaper. Chicks dig giant robots.

The best example of referencing real life cuture that springs to mind is Albion, a PC RPG developed by Blue Byte back in '95. Awesome game, by the way, and one of my all-time faves.

Basically it's a sci-fi RPG, and some guys crash on a planet and discover the first alien race. But, there are also humans there! These humans turn out to be Celts from ancient Scotland IIRC (they were transported to this planet by magic). There was a bit of interaction with some of the NPCs, and you got to wonder around some celtic villages. When I completed the game I noticed during the credits they had hired a historical adviser for that section.

But, I'm not sure it relates at all to the original query, as it's ancient culture, in a somewhat obscure game, and Blue Byte are in fact German.

I'm presuming too hopeful. The 200.6% completion thing was certainly in the PS release so it's unlikely they added any more to the castle.

I was thinking something less game-altering. Maybe extra music, or an art display or something. Or perhaps it was just the Live code (scoreboards, etc.) that pushed it over the edge.

A few WTFs:

-Get 500,000 in a song (only two or three songs doable on. And that's getting a near world-best score)

-1000 note streak? Woah

-Beat Jordan on Expert ('nuff said!)

-1,000,000 points in co-op (man!)

I don't know about world best, but I'm pretty sure my top for Helmet's Unsung on the first one was over 500k. Finding someone good enough to pull the co-op awards off might be hard though.

Perhaps it did fit, but then they added some bonus content? Am I being too hopeful?

There is new version of Jets‘n’Guns...

Holy crap!

Thank you so much for pointing this out! I've played JnG to death, and didn't realise there was an expansion available. Instabuy.

I just want online scoreboards

I've never really cared much for the scoreboards on Live, but competitive Guitar Hero play is very relevant to my interests. I have a friend who took part in Game's nationwide tournament, and came out something like 4th. I can compete with him on an almost equal footing, so it would be nice to see how I fared against others online.

IGN have a hands-on with XBLA's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night:

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/753/753798p1.html

Claims to have a rewritten engine, with "upgraded graphics and sound". How can they graphically update what is possibly the pinnacle of sprite-based gaming?

EDIT: Oh, by "updated graphics" they meant they added a widescreen mode.