Still.. has anyone here tried Lesko's program?

  Lol, the joker/riddler. Thanks guys, lots of interesting ideas/comments so far. I really do want to know if anyone has used his program though. Anyone else care to comment?

I was thinking that it would be a good thing to look for his book at the library,  if you can find it...

I think I will do that today, ive got nothing else to do. That way i dont lose any money, and perhaps I can get some free money. Probably not though.

Looks pretty good, but the quality of that video isnt so hot. Im not sure I like the explosions, they should change that. Otherwise it looks like WW without cel shading. Which is good, I like WW.

#1:  Find a mechanic you (or someone you trust) trusts, and have them look the car over, checking it for anything he can tell you.  Expect to spend about $1-2000 in repairs for the car in the next 2-3 years.  If the owner won't let you take it to a mechanic, walk away.

Yeah, im planning on having a friend of mine who fixes up old cars come look at it with me. Im fully willing to walk away from it, although I do like it. Thanks for the advice, it would suck to get that car home and find out something was terribly wrong with it. I think all call the guy today and tell him im going to need a mechanic to look at it.

Im lookin for a cheap little car to just use for around town that gets good gas mileage. So far Ive found a 1980 Honda Accord for around $600. Its in good shape, but I cant seem to find very much information about it. Im not sure what I need to know about accords from this era to make an informed decision. I have some time to figure it out, but I need a new cheap car pretty soon. The car has anywhere between 79000 and 179000 (I geuss it could be 279000) miles. Not sure as it doesnt have enough digits to show it. Anyways, it runs well, and everything works. The lights in the dash dont seem to work, but I believe its just fuse out. The owner doesnt seem to know. He bought it from a dealer 8 months ago or so. He is a detailer, so he fixed it up a little bit to turn around and sell it again.

Anyways I like Hondas, and I like the way this car drives. Its a nice little car, but I dont want to get ripped off. Granted its only a few hundred dollars, but still, im quite strapped for money right now. Any information from people with experience of old accords would be great to hear.

Thanks!

Nah, not for the single player. Multi player definatly, but the single player portion is rather boring.

Already posted, dimmona beat you to it!

I have no idea what it's about or if it's any good, but free is free

Same here, I didnt even look at it, just figured "well, its basically free, and with free shipping, how bad can this really be? No loss for me."

Frankly, I'd be more inclined to spend $70 on a 25 hour RPG than I would on 40+ hour RPG. I view this trend toward shorter games as completely positive.

It looks like Bioware agrees with you.  They stated in the most recent EGM that Jade Empire is deliberately shorter (approx 20 hours for the main game) than their past works.

I like shorter RPGs too. They feel less stretched out.

IN! Thanks for the heads up.

Total thread derailment: ever try Sega's Soccer Slam on the Cube? It was wicked fun in the same vein as Jam or Hitz or Blitz. Just wish there had been more variety in the teams.

I havnt tried it yet, but I keep an open eye for it as I heard it was pretty fun. Hard to come by these days. Some day ill pick it up on ebay.

Right now, just FIFA and ape escapre, although Im not going to be getting one, those still interest me. I would want an RPG though. An FPS would interest me if there  was a second analog stick.

Yep, april fools.

I voted RE4 because it was the closest to what I think, But RE1 is still the scariest experience I remember gaming.

SP does enough for me. I couldnt pay more then $20 for a game. For the SP I try to stick under $15. I dont really play it mich so it isnt all that difficult, I just picked up advance wars 2 at best buy for $8. Great game, great price!

Basically what will happen for me is that I will only pay full price for sure thing games from developers I trust and want to support.  Other than that I will wait, thereby reducing the number of games I buy since I am less apt to buy a 1 year old game.

I do much the same thing. Lately ive beeng getting new games for only $5! Of course, Ive been playing older systems so that would explain why. I really only pick up the big names at full price and wait out the rest. Halo 3 or something similar, I would be in at $75. But it needs to be that big for me to be on board.

Id say go ahead and sell it. Xbox two will be here soon, its really no biggie to be without the xbox if you dont play live or any of the exclsives on a regular basis. Mine gets very little play time right now. Its all cube for the time being.

It's funny you say that. My two big winter sports are hockey and snowboarding. I can't stand "realistic" hockey games, like EA's NHL 200X, but I love NHL Hitz. On the other hand, I can't stand SSX's outrageous style of gameplay, while I dig Amped's more realistic style (and that's simply more realistic than SSX - the game is still Superman goes snowboarding). I knew SSX wasn't for me when some dude started to breakdance on his snowboard, yet I'm comfortable with a hockey player with the head of a shark shooting flaming pucks on an ice rink that's on the moon. Go figure.

 :lol:  Im the same way though. I ski and I love amped but dislike ssx (there isnt a good skiing game ever mdae, so I have to live with snowboarding). I also play soccer a lot and tend to like Red Card. For some reason im ok with it being compeltely absurd and dont mind kickign the ref and other players in the chest with both feet. Funny, I thought maybe I was the only one.

and if you dont have passport get to post office that takes a few months to get through (not to do all the stuff just to wait for it to get processed or whatever bureaucratic bs takes that long

Unless they've changed things since my passport, there are services that you can rush process a US passport through.  For $90, I got my passport in 3 days.

Yes, passports can come very quickly! You have to pay extra, but mine came very very quickly, and that was just a couple of years ago.

As for moving, I say go for it! I loved my time in italy in october. It would be an awsome experience. Figure things out later!

Not sure really. Maybe republic commando for the xbox. Nothing really standing out to me right now... too much backlog to get through anyways.

Im playing too many games right now, and need to just finish off a couple of them.

Playing:

GCN:
Resident Evil 4
Animal Crossing
Paper Mario thousand year door

GBA:
Wario Ware Inc.
Zeldd: Minnish Cap
FFTA
Advance Wars 2

Too many games! Of course Animal crossing is more a constant game. I will finish off resident evil 4 soon too!

Holy crap, the 'Xbox == HUGE!!' jokes aren't going to stop anytime soon... have you seen the size of the replacement power cable?  So much for using a power strip....



Article linkage

Holy crap!!! Im not going to be able to use one! Ill have to take my chances with the old one, its been long enough now hopefully it will be ok!

Well, through my superior google skills, I found LE's article. So there it is for those of you who would like to read all of it. Nothing new said, just that PS2 is in first, and Xbox and cube have been fighting for second. Which is true, although it should be noted that the cube has been in third for some time.

There, no I really am done derailing this thread   .

LE, can you never admit you were wrong? ...  But no, I guess we were "both" wrong  :roll: .

You said you were wrong, but you didn't say it right!  You're such a dick!

I was under the impression Nintendo was kicking XBox's ass worldwide, due to the Asian market's hatred of the XBox and fascination with Nintendo.  This was wrong.

JeffG claimed the XBox had been number 2 for awhile now.  That too was wrong--the XBox and the Gamecube are more or less tied for second.

Thus, we were both wrong.

Any questions?

Wow. They are not tied for second. And this isnt even my bias. Xbox has been in second for well over a year now, I think even two. Last time I checked (which was around december) they were up by over a million. Xbox has been number two for quite a while now. This article says the xbox was ahead in 2002!. Sure it is from Microsoft, but the source they are quoting from is NPD. They are not virtually tied. Your quip doesnt even say that. It says they may end close together, but the xbox is winning. And how about a link to that article? How do we even know when it was written without a link? How do we know anything about it without a link?

I love the cube, but it doesnt change the fact that the xbox is winning. I dislike the PS2 but that doesnt change the fact that it is kicking both of the other systems asses. Facts are facts. For quite a while now, the lineup has been as such:
1. PS2
2. Xbox
3. GCN
Allright, im done derailing this thread. Its a completely worthless argument.

Back to the games list. I think Starcraft needed to be on it. Or C&C red alert. RTS games are probably my favorite type for the PC, and there is a big absence there. Another game which needs to be considred is Roller Coaster Tycoon. It started the huge tycoon craze!

And wow, just looked up the info on Dai Senryaku VII, I need to try that out, stat! That game looks pretty sweet. I havnt seen it anywhere or even heard about it.

Agreed completely on Death Row and on Oddworld. Deathrow came out of nowhere, and left just as quickly. I have spent hours playing that game with my friends. Its a great game to play when you get a group together. Not as much for me when playing alone.

Stiffler, you can go months without replacing the Wavebird batteries, and play a lot of games in the process. They last forever.

Thanks!  This was something I was never quite sure about.  With this being the case then I say bring on the wireless!

I don't think I've had a wireless controller since some crappy thing I had way back for the NES.  And yet I wondered why I haven't had to replace the AA's in my keyboard yet...

The wavebird is a wonder. You really can go forever without changing batteries. Wireless controllers have come a long way, and I would hope that next generation all the companies at least gave us the option of having wireless cowntrollers much the same way Nintendo has this time. Although force feedback would be nice. Perhaps with an on off switch so you could save batteries if you wanted to. Anyone try to play Mario Party 5 with a wavebird? Good luck with some of those games.

[one]

Eh, wrong and wrong.  Xbox is the number 2 console worldwide, has been for a while now.  The cube was crushed in the US, and while it is 2nd in Japan there just aren't as many of them playing console games (There was a 40% drop last year alone.  They’re all playing handhelds.)

And, the point someone made about Halo is that as a result of it Game Developers  & publishers started making Xbox games.  MSFT does have dough, and that has helped them, but I do think Halo belongs at the bottom of the list for the reasons stated here.

Apparently we're both wrong.  Courtesy of CNET:

"(Nintendo and Microsoft) are fairly close for No. 2, and I think they'll remain that way," he said. "Xbox has done really well in North America, but it hasn't gotten very far in Japan and the rest of Asia. The (Nintendo) GameCube has a solid presence in all three (regional) markets, but they're not really knocking them dead in any of them."

As for the other part, give me one example where Halo's success made a developer want to develop for the XBox more than Microsoft shelling out publishing money did.

LE, can you never admit you were wrong? or that perhaps your outspoken dislike of Halo may be coming into play here? That little quip you just posted about them being close doesnt mean anything. Of course its close, but what you said was completely wrong. That nintendo is FAR more popular and that the Xbox was not in second place. That statement was completely untrue. But no, I guess we were "both" wrong  :roll: .

Now, is any developer going to come out and say the following: "Halo has prompted us to make xbox games." No. But you know what will make them take a second look? Sales. If the xbox sells well, more developers will want to develop for it. And what got the Xbox up and running, and kept it running for months? Halo. Therefore, what have we learned from this? Halo has convinced other developers to create games for the xbox, because without Halo, your false statement about the cube would actually be true. And from all of this, what have we learned? Perhaps despite your hatred towards Halo, it is deserving of some credit, if nothing else then for the amount of noise it has made. Like it or not, it is now one of the biggest names in video games. You dont have to enjoy the game to realize this! You can hate it and you should still be able to see what it has done, and the amount of noise it has created!

I would love the ability to turn my console on and off by remote. Why do we have power button on tv remotes? At least on the remote control for the unit it would be nice to have a power button. Especially on the remote unit. I could pass on the controller, but on the remote it is essential I think.

Sim City was an important game, thats for sure. But there isnt enough room for all of them!

So did you finish? For some reason im on edge wondering if you did. My project this next weekend is FFTA. Im close, just need to finish it now.  

They've started a second list, for games that are classics but they didn't feel belonged on the Essential list.  See http://crucialclassics.1up.com/

Yeah, now everyone can be happy and have their games on the list!

Wow, Chris, I think I'm the polar opposite of you.  Every time I see Tony Hawk's name, I can't help but think he's a corporate icon of what They think kiddie counter-culture is.  Skateboarding used to be a clique-ie activity engaged in by psuedo-social outcasts.  Now it's got it's own MTV-esque prepackaged garbage series on ESPN.  Total Sellout of the activity occurred via Tony Hawk.  He absolutely ruined the very activity he engages in.

But hey, he's richer than hell now, so I doubt he gives a damn.

Some peolpe would say that he brought it back from the brink of death. It just depends on how you look at it. If ruining it is making it mainstream, then sure. But that is like people who complain that everyone likes "their band" now that it has become mainstream. They complain that they were fans before anyone else knew about them, and that they were there in the garage days of the band. Who cares? Is it only cool if nobody else knows about it? Its like LE's hate of Halo. Its a huge success, so he says "but they wernt there in the early days of FPS games! Stoopid nubes."

Skateboarding is huge because of Tony Hawk. He ruined it if he wanted to be a psuedo-social outcast, but I doubt that is what he had in mind. Its become a main stream bona-fide sport.

I never get it when someone says a person or group is a "sellout." Oh, im sorry, you would turn down the money and success? Teachers had a strike here in my town a couple of years ago. Damn them for wanting more money. Stupid sellouts.  

[expecting]

It is also by far the most succesful FPS on a console. Sure goldeneye was great and was the first breakthrough console FPS, but it wasnt Halo. It didnt cause near the stir, didnt single handedly put a console into second place (over nintendo that is saying a lot), and didnt do half as much as Halo to make consoles mainstream.

Just to correct a factual error of yours--the Gamecube is FAR more popular globally than the XBox.

And I really don't buy the idea that Halo made gaming mainstream.  The Sims did that far better than Halo ever did.

And just FYI, the XBox did NOT survive because of Halo.  The XBox survived because Microsoft was both expecting and fully willing to lose literally millions of dollars in an attempt to force their way into the console gaming market.  In short, the XBox is around because Microsoft was ready to go to the cleaners over it.  Not because of Halo in the least.

Actually im pretty sure the xbox is in second place worldwide. Whot do you consider worldwide? Everything except north america? Worldwide includes north america. Everythign I have found says that the xbox is still indeed in second place. I would be interested to see some hard facts to the contrary, but I doubt it. I have googled and googled and everything I have come up with says the xbox is firmly in second place. And I know that the cube couldnt possibly FAR more popular worldwide. If it is ahead, it would be a narrow lead that is for sure.

And if it wasnt for Halo, there is no way that the Xbox would be anywhere near as popular as it is now. MS could stick with it and lose millions all they want, but it wouldnt be the same without Halo, and there would be very little buzz around the xbox 2. LE, you are a huge critic of Halo, and I would be careful to not let your bias against it make you look ignorant. If you cannot see the affect Halo has had on the gaming industry (not necesarily meaning revolutionizing gameplay) you are blind because of your hate of a game simply because it is popular.

Halo has been very influencial, anyone can see that, whether it was deserved or not. The reasons people have listed all add up to it being important. It is what put the Xbox in the running and that is huge. A third console, all equally able to survive. It has never happened before like this. To me, that alone is huge, and what is to thank for this? Halo.  In all reality, Master Chief is going to be more memorable to the generation of kids just starting to play then anyone else. He is in some ways the new mario, the face of console gaming. Agree with that or disagree but it doesnt change that facts of how important it is.

Continue to say how Halo wasnt ground breaking and how it sucks, but culturaly it was ground breaking. Its "cool" to play Halo. It isnt nerdy. Its social, something GTA 3  or most gaming for that matter isnt. It was essentially the first game to allow 16 player games in one room on the console. It has changed a lot of things.

It is also by far the most succesful FPS on a console. Sure goldeneye was great and was the first breakthrough console FPS, but it wasnt Halo. It didnt cause near the stir, didnt single handedly put a console into second place (over nintendo that is saying a lot), and didnt do half as much as Halo to make consoles mainstream.

Everyone here knows Halo wasnt a huge revolution ion terms of gameplay. It wasnt ground breaking. We are all aware of that. But it was presented in a manner that no FPS had really been presented before. FPS games were still for the PC. Even goldeneye couldnt do what Halo did. Halo is just another FPS that is true, but it still caused a revolution in consoles.

Jet grind radio definatly deserves to be on there. I lvoe that game! Ive been playing it again now since I read this! Great game   . And it started the cell shading fad. Granted I have started to despise the cel shading fad, it still was a big deal.

I can see mario kart for the SNES being there. It may not have been the first racing game, but it did start the kart racing, which is a big deal. Many games have followed the lead of mario kart. Kart racing is its own genre (and a healthy one for that matter) as a result of mario kart.

39. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999: PS)

Agreed here! Tony Hawk also did a ton to make gaming "cool."

Doesnt mean that is all there will be is wireless controllers. It could be just an option, much like the wavebird is for the cube. Either way, good news!

The PSP lauch games are mostly shit anyway.

*cough* fanboi *cough*  :wink:

Seriously though, I don't know how you can claim the PSP launch games are mostly shit. I think this is one of the most impressive launch lineups for a system, handheld or not, ever.

Compare it with the launch lineup of the DS....now that was mostly shit. I bought the DS, not for DS games (since there are basicly none that interest me at all right now) but for the GBA games.

If you like sports, I will agree with you. But in all honesty, its a sports machine. Maybe this problem is bigger then just fanbois   . I dont like the PS2 for its selection of games. They do nothing for me. I find it heavy on sports, square/enix and mgs games. So perhpasthis is why the PSP launch titles are all "meh" to me. On the other hand, Nintendo has always been a little bit special to me (after Sega). Their games feel more fun and enjoyable (to me). This could be the bigger problem, what sony brings to the table normally doesnt interest me. Over half of the PSP games are sports games. Thats great if you love sports games, but I dont. The DS on the other hand has had a rash of puzzle games it seems, something which am not into as well. Knowing Nintendo, Im hoping they can pull this out of no where, and to be honest, they probably will. This is Nintendo.

And the price point is an issue all around. Sure it can do more, but it isnt a full sized console. I hope for sony's sake that it will work out, but it costs about the same as the DS and the cube together. Most parents are going to see that and say, yeah, lets go with the nintendo. Hopefully a price war will start, maybe then I will jump on the scene   .

Just to clarify so nobody takes my post the wrong way, scott im gald you ahve beenresearching it more. Hopefully the PSP will be really great, I just have my doubts with all of the problems being reported so far. Obviously many people didnt read my second post, or just disregarded it anywho. To me, both release launches were lackluster, but im not a big fan of sports games, so that might change my perception, and there are design flaws (not just the button, personal ones, such as the open screen) and whatnot. I honestly wont be getting either for a long time. I just got a GBA (my first handheld since the game gear) a few months ago. Lets just try and be a little more balanced here if you know what I mean. Opinions are taken more seriously when they appear to be somewhat balanced.

*cough* fanboi *cough*  :wink:

Cleric, my point wasnt to slam the PSP, but to point out that to praise it non stop and slam the DS is ridiculous.

Most of the launch titles are sports games. And then a couple of ports and a few original ones. All the DS is missing there is the sports games. They have original and ports. Their launches are both lackluster, nobody is fooled.

I have watched some videos on IGN, and to me it seems like PSone, or slightly above graphics being shrunk down to a smaller screen so the resolution looks better. Could they be PS2 graphics? Sure, thats not a stretch, the PS2 isnt so hot graphically that it isnt possible, it is a rather weak machine and is quite dated at this point.

The button issue isnt a huge deal, but for $250 my system damn well had better be fully functional. Sony's attitude towards it is terrible too. "Its art."

I dont care either way. I dont own either system, and probably will never own either system, at least ont until problems are worked out and the prices drop. My point wasnt to slam the PSP, but rather to illustrate how ridiculous the fanboism was getting. The PSP hasnt even been released yet, and he hasnt played the DS. To me, the whole argument becomes ridiculous once that is put into perpective.

Sure the button thing could be blown out of porportion, but that was the point. Most of scott's dislike of the DS is blown out of porportion considering earlier in this thread he stated that he wasnt aware the games were different between the DS and GBA. I mean he hasnt played it. The point was to be somewhat ridiculous. The PSP and DS have problems, both of which are being exagerated. The funny thing is, I could care less which system anyone liked, or which one did better.

Scott, the PSP launch isnt exactly looking stellar either. Nobody ahs been responding, but allow me to start now. I believe you ahve only briefly tried the DS in the stores, and have very little understanding of it. You admitted yourself that you did not know the DS was different from the GBA. This to me seems like you are simply a sony fan, and dislike the DS simply because it isnt the PSP. I think everyone here has been tiptoeing around this, but come on, its obvious.

The DS is much mroe powerful then the GBA, and is more like the N64. And I believe the PSP is more similar to the PSone then the PS2. The screenshots most definatly look more like it. There are many faults for the PSP. For one, there is the button problem. One of the buttons doesnt work! And Sony has said it isnt a problem. You worried about scratching your DS? At least it protects itself. And if you are careful it wont scratch with a stylus. I have a pocket PC which doesnt get scratched due to the stylus. Sure if I rubbed the stylus in sand and then used it on the pocket PC it would scratch, but im going to be mroe careful then that. And just because the store models are scratched to death doesnt mean that your average DS is going to be scrathed. Anything on display in a store is going to be damaged. Have you ntried a controller at your local walmart lately? Half the time the analog sticks are completely loose and dont respond. Those displays take a beating. I have personally never had an analog stick get ruined, but of course, I take care of mine. My point is, just beause the store model is scratched, it doesnt mean yours is going to be scratched. It is not a very good indicator.

Another problem, and perhaps the largest problem with the PSP and the one which is most likely to cause it problems? The price. Whos is going to be willing to buy one when you can get a DS and an xbox for roughly the same price? I mean come on, the price point of the PSP is ridiculous, and that is the biggest problem it is facing.

Anyone can go on, but what is the point? Both systems are not near perfect, but at the same time they are much closer in competition then you are making it seem. Every post is the same, why the DS sucks and how sweet the PSP is going to be. You havnt tried either extensively! Its just getting a bit ridiculous. Both systems have their merits and downfalls. Sure, be excited and read alot, but why do you feel the need to constantly come back and say how sucky the DS is? Do you work for Sony? Is there any reason to do this? Be excited about the PSP, but it really serves no purpose to make a point in every post to say how the DS sucks, especially since it is extremely evident you have almost no experience with it other then looking at it at a store display. You are coming off like a fanboi.

I dont even own either, and dont plan on it for a while either. I could care less if you are looking forward to one, in fact why not? You should. But there is no reason to make baseless claims against a system you havnt used, dont know, and have learned more about it in this thread then you knew before.