What time are people here playing at? I'm usually on between 7 and 8:30 PM PST. (Hey! You try getting in a lot of game time with a 5 year old to take care of!)

Are there any helicopters you can get to in Los Santos?

If you've got American McGee's Alice, that might fill the bill too.

4) Concerns from others - I'll address some of the concerns that others have stated.  The mini-map is crap (as I said above).  I've managed to get used to it, but it's a disappointment

I've gotten used to it as well but it does seem to be a step back. One thing that I find myself doing a lot is going into the big map and setting a marker to where I want to go. (It's the circle button, I think. Maybe the square. One of the two.) So there's that at least.

Yeah, it's pissing me off too since I'm in the same Lost/West Wing boat. Is there any way, besides setting it up manually, to set a season pass to start late instead of early?

And the symbols change each time it reloads so you don't pick the same symbol over and over.

Anyone read the Game Informer review? According to GameRankings it got 6.75 out of 10 from them.

Damnit! I was beaten to the punch! My post has the link to the soundtrack though. That count's for something, right? RIGHT?!

Halo 2 is Gold. There's also a video weekly update if you scroll down to the bottom. Watch the lucky testers playing the final retail build! Also, a cut from the soundtrack has been posted.

I just haven't seen any games for the DS that makes me think that I have to get it and I'm still skeptical about the stylus interface. The PSP, on the other hand has Tiger Woods, GT4 and possibly even Viewtiful Joe. Unless it's outrageously priced, that's what I'll be getting.

Aces!  I had a great idea for a porn-themed MMORPG.

No fair! You're already a level two pig spanker! Would bestiality be a different class or would it be more like crafting?

I've heard from someone under NDA and isn't the type to gush that HL2 will live up to the hype, at least more than Doom 3 did. Reports from people who've played with Counter Strike: Source are so far very positive as well.

*Sigh* I was closing in on 3K as well and I was a member since day 2, if I'm not mistaken. Oh well.

This looks to be a good place to talk about games and Quarter to Three's R&P forum is pretty active.

There's a rumor going around that GG's hosting account was canceled on 10/5. Maybe they're just moving the server?

I dream of the day when someone combines PoP's camera with Ninja Gaiden's combat system. I quit NG for the same reason that I quit Devil May Cry. I don't like fighting enemies that are off screen.

I've been beating up on the DS in the other console forum. Here's my take after watching both videos that GameSpot posted on the PSP and the DS. So far, I've liked what I've seen with the PSP and really didn't like what I saw with the DS. The PSP's graphics looked very good on the PSP’s large, well lit screen and the controls look to be well laid out. Unfortunately, the content was pretty light on showing games being played on the PSP which I guess shouldn’t be too surprising given how far off the launch is.

The DS video, on the other hand showed off quite a bit of gameplay. If you're worried about scratches on the PSP's screen then you should be equally, if not more worried about the DS's, since most of the games are apparently going to use the stylus. While Metriod Prime: Hunters’ graphics looked great and the dual screen allows it to show both the action and the map at the same time, the controls looked a bit awkward. The dpad controlled the forward/backward and strafing movement while the stylus was used for looking, turning and shooting.  Lefties take note: unless there's a left handed version of the DS you might have a problem playing DS stylus games. I don't think a lefty would be able to play the Metriod Prime game.

Wario Ware DS and Sega’s Sonic game also make heavy use of the stylus. Both have the player rubbing the stylus back and forth on the screen very quickly as part of the control mechanics (in Sonic it makes him run, in Wario Ware there’s “scratch my back” and “make a coin rubbing” microgames) which makes me wonder how quickly we’re going to hear about DS owners rubbing grooves into their screens.

Finally, with the stylus games I'd be willing to be that the player's hand is going to block a significant portion of the screen (say at least 10%) while playing.

Ironically, the tech demos that they had looked more intriguing, the Balloon Mario one in particular which has you drawing paths for Baby Mario to follow to gather coins while avoiding enemies. Building that demo into a Lemmings type game would probably be a good idea.

All in all after seeing the DS and PSP videos, I remain convinced that Sony went with the better solution: going with a bigger and better screen versus going with two.

Alex C