With that said, it's a lot of fun if the combat system clicks for you.

This is the key.  I liked the story, characters, and setting, but really didn't enjoy the combat system.  Even after 8+ hours, combat felt incredibly chaotic and I didn't think the AI did a very good job controlling the other characters.

Between losing one job, starting another, starting 2 other part-time positions, trying to make my yard look decent, hitting the gym and actually seeing my wife on occasion, I haven't touched a game for nearly 3 weeks.  There's really only one game coming out in the next 2 months that interests me at all (Altilier Iris), and I'll probably wait on it as well (too broke to buy any games, hence the PSP for sale).

My console:games owned ratio is currently 3:2.  I have zero games for my X-Box & PS2, and only 2 for my PSP, neither of which I've played for nearly 2 weeks.  My PSP is also up for sale in the trading forum (shameless plug), so in a week or so I will own 2 consoles with a grand total of 0 games.

Just FYI guys, I'll leave it up for OO & CG'ers for a week, then I'm going to have to list it on E-Bay (I really need the $$).  I'd just much rather see it end up at a good home, y'know?  

LIST THAT PRICE BEEEOTCH!!

Someone needs to create a funny Photoshop that we can just post.

My bad.  Looking for $250 or thereabouts, since that's what E-bay would fetch.

I received a PM from someone about the PSP.  I responded, but the system seemed to go apeshit when I hit 'Submit', so I'm not sure it got there (and for some reason neither the PM I received or the one I sent shows up in my box).  Very strange.

So whoever sent me that, please let me know if you got my response.

Not getting paid for 1 1/2 months, combined with a nearly 35% pay cut for the new job I had to take, means I am desperately broke.  Hence, I am putting my just-over-a-month old PSP with two games up for sale.  It is in perfect condition with not a single dead pixel, and comes with the standard stuff (slipcase, 32 meg card, cleaning cloth, & sampler disc).   It will also come with Hot Shots Golf and FIFA Soccer, both in perfect condition.

I was going to E-Bay it, but I wanted to offer it up to both OO & CG first since I've had so many good trades through these communities.  Honestly, I'm looking for cash only (no trades) as I'm in pretty desperate need right now.   Make me an offer if you're interested and we'll see what we can do.


PM or e-mail if you'd like pics or more details.  Thanks.  

EDIT:  Looking for $250'ish, since that's what I could get for it on E-Bay.

Kevin actually PM'ed me about it a while ago (to which I never responded, my apologies Kevin.  It's been a crazy couple weeks.), but I felt since it was listed on the OO PIFF thread, I should keep it available for OO'ers.  Sorry about the confusion, I dropped the ball on that one.  

Anyhow, it was sent out to Szagny this afternoon.

Stupid impulse purchases.  I basically picked up my PSP on a whim (largely due to the CG forum effect, I might add) because it did look really cool.  I'm not into multiplayer gaming, and I don't have much need for a portable system, but I just couldn't resist the allure of a sexy new gadget.  Now that I've had it for a month or so, I realize that there's really not that many games for it that interest me, nor are there many coming out that make me want to keep it.  So far I've been through:

-  Untold Legends (starts off good, gets repetitive & boring very quicly)
-  Wipeout Pure (a fun racer, but I wasn't terribly good at it)
-  Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (I liked the old Tony Hawk games, but the open-endedness of the Underground series really bugs me.  Besides, I spend close to 2 hours just trying to get past one stupid trick in the tutorial.  I guess I'm just not good enough)
-  Lumines (It just didn't grab me like it has everyone else.  It's a decent puzzler, but I really didn't see what all the fuss is about)
-  FIFA soccer (I really enjoy this game, but the lack of a career mode is going to seriously impact it's longevity.  Once I finish my season, there's not much incentive to go back and play through it again.)
-  Hot Shots Golf (easily my favorite PSP title so far)

When I look at the upcoming releases, I only see 2 games that really pique my interest:  Madden 2006 and the Final Fantasy VII game.  I'm mainly an RPG fan, and the lack of any RPG's for this system (now or upcoming) is really starting to kill my interest in the PSP.   The only ones I know of, and correct me if I'm wrong, are Y's (which was an absolute pile of ass on the PS2) and Tales (which I didn't really care for on GCN).  

So are there any good RPG, SRPG, or maybe some unique titles coming down the pipe that are must-have-OMG-look-at-that, type games.   I really don't want to sell it, but I hate to see it simply collect dust while I wait for something good to come out.

Here is your smoking hot Twi'lek, Amy Allen

As Aayla Secura:





IRL:

Well put Laner

I'm with Starshifter on this one.  I thought both Portman and Christensen did a much better job this time around.  The dialog was clunky, but I thought they pulled it off well and there weren't nearly as many cringe-worthy lines.  I thoroughly enjoyed the film from start to finish and can't wait to see it again.  The only part I really didn't like was the whole Vader sequence at the end.  I think it would have made him so much more evil had he simply said, "She's dead?  I killed her?  Fuck her, she deserved it for betraying me."

As far as using the same ship 18 years later, remember that Leia was basically trying to travel around incognito when she was captured by Vader.  If you're trying to sneak around, are you going to take the nicest, most souped up ship that attracts notice, or are you going to drive something old, beat up, and inconspicuous to avoid notice?

Their is going to be a shooter/action game focused around Vincent. I believe it takes place a year after advent child, or its a year after the game..I don't remember which.

'Dirge of Cerebrus' is the Vincent-centered game for PS2.  There's also 'Crisis Core', which is an action/RPG in development for PSP.

::

From IGN:

UPDATE: There will not be a Final Fantasy VII remake for PS3. Repeat, there will not be a remake. But, there will be a new Final Fantasy game. We'll have info on that as it happens.

Well, shit.

So...this means a FFVII remake will be a PS3 launch title.  Right?  

Gratch, the Shadow Hearts Covenant numbers are from NPD taken from Gaming-Age. Its the most official number we can get outside of Midway. It might be up to 70k by now but I know in April the sales were approx 3k, maybe less.  NPD doesn't cover all retailers so the real US numbers are probably higher, but 60k is pretty poor compared to other RPGs reported by NPD.  It *is* about what a typical Atlus product brings in though and those seem to be doing well enough.  

In Japan it had sold approxl 110k as of last year. Its possible that it could be up to 150k which could be where that number was from.  They did just issue a SH:C director's cut in Japan which hopefully provided a nice boost to sales.

Thanks Kevin, that makes more sense now.

BTW, this is set for release July 28th in Japan.  

I too am worried if we'll see this stateside.  Covenant only had 60k sales over here.  Even if it does come out over here, I wonder if they will put the time and effort to give it the same great localization that SH:C got.

I've heard everything from 60k to 150k for SH:  C's sales numbers.  While neither is great, I'm 150k would make them much more likely to bring it here.  Is there any way to verify these numbers?

And WTH is this?!  !!DISTURBING!!

There was a long discussion about that image on another board, and it was generally agreed that someone did a damn good job of photoshopping a lamprey's mouth (sans teeth) onto the end of a couple fingers.

Certainly doesn't keep it from being creepy as hell though.

The magazine announced that Advent Children will be released on DVD and made no mention of a PSP-friendly Universal Media Disk (UMD) format.

Huh.  From all the early reports I read, Advent Children was supposed to be UMD first, with a DVD release coming much later.  Now it seems to be the other way around.  

Either way, I'm just happy it's getting a simultaneous US/Japan release.  I was afraid we were going to have to wait for months to get it over here after it was released in Japan.  Any word on the voice talent yet?

OK, I'm confused.  Was this big unveiling show some sort of regional thing?  I've had MTV on since 7:00, and haven't seen it yet.  I thought maybe it started at 9:30 eastern (7:30 here), but it was Meet the Barkers.  9:30 central, maybe (8:30 here)?  Nope, that was a rap video countdown show.  9:30 Mountain time, maybe?  Nope, some Real World thing has been going since 9:00.  WTF??

Strange thing is, they've been showing station promos for it all night saying it starts at 9:30 Eastern.  Color me confused.

I have enough friends that will want me to go, to possibly avoid it - so please tell me if there is a reason i should get excited about this one.  Due to my lack of interest, I haven't followed any of the preview discussions. :?

FWIW, 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes so far.

There's about 20 of us that are going to a 9 pm show on opening day.  Should be fun.

I pre-ordered at one of the B & M stores.  I don't know if the same offer applies through the website.

I pre-ordered through Gamestop and it includes the soundtrack.  Don't kno about the guide thing, though.

Myself I would of ranked it in the mid 70s. The combat is too flawed and the story wasn't that engaging. Still, props for doing an original rpg set  in something other than a LOTR rip off

My thoughts exactly.  There was nothing about the story or characters that interested me at all, and I quit about 11 hours in.  It just felt like an asian-themed KotOR mod to me, which wasn't really that interesting.

You are a Jedi Guardian.

The Republic wouldn't be the same without you. There are alternatives to fighting, but you will do what you have to do to defend the peace. Refine your skills by growing stronger in your connection to the Force. It will get you through many difficult circumstances.

May the Force be with you.

I think that quiz just called me a pussy.

Picked up Clone Wars this afternoon and just finished watching it.  It can be summed up in a single word.  

Wow.

While I agree that some of it was unnecessary, the majority of those episodes were amazing.  The elite Clone Troopers and Mace Windu episodes were especially good.

Now I just wish May 19th would hurry up and get here.

The worst ever was Splinter Cell.  For me, playing splinter cell consisted of hanging from a railing, running down an alley, doing a wide variety of immersive gameplay and then being killed by Russians.  It was pretty cool - the graphics were great, and I could try all sorts of things before the Russians killed me.  I could throw a can to distract them before they killed me, hide in shadows and sneak to where they were going to kill me, break ones neck before the other killed me, make them all look green and grainy while they killed me.  They may have been Ukrainian, actually.  Anyway, they would kill me and then talk in Russian about how much of a tool I was.  I really couldn't get past the first half hour of the game.

That description gave me a chuckle, as I am the exact same way with the Splinter Cell games.  I love stealth action, but I just have never been able to do the SC games.

Or Dungeon Seige
Or Sudeki
Or Fable

Gratch- what am I looking at in that picture?  Is that something behind the screen?  Based on your post, is it vomit  :shock:

Yep, that would be pooled cat vomit that actually got between the screens.  My model of TV has 3 screens that are basically glued together.  When the cat got sick, it ran down the front of the TV, pooled at the bottom, and seeped between the screens causing that permanent black smudge at the bottom of the screen.  Unfortunately, there is no way to pry the screens apart to fix it, and the only fix would be to completely replace all three screens, which will run about $800.

Moral of the story:  Make sure you cover your TV screen if you have cats in the house.

P.S.  BTW, the entire saga (including the nearly $1,000 vet bill to try and find out what the hell was wrong with the cat) can be found here.

If it makes you feel any better:

Barfing Cat on top of the TV + 52" HDTV =


$800 to get it fixed.  

[Played a Fair Amount Of, Didn't Really Click Then, Feel It Might Click Now, Therefore Damn Good Chance It Might Be Played Soon]

Played a Fair Amount Of, Didn't Really Click Then, Feel It Might Click Now, Therefore Damn Good Chance It Might Be Played Soon:
Resident Evil 4

Man, I have so many of these.  When a bunch of new games come out at the same time, I tend to get them all at the same time.  Then, unless one really grabs me, I end up jumping around from game to game and never put in the time or effort to really just enjoy one of them.  

Of course, now that my income has been slashed in half, that is going to drastically change.  I'm going to have to be much more picky on what games I buy from now on.

Ive never understood the hate some people have for FF8; that was one of the few games which actually made me wake up just to play it.  But I agree, the junction system was pretty annoying, but I found battles pretty easy and mainly stuck with physical attacks.

The main problem with FF8 wasn't the junction system, it was the draw system.  Having to continually draw spells from enemies was possibly the most annoying gameplay mechanic I've ever run across, and untimately killed my interest in the game.  I managed to get through about 35 hours, but I just could take any more 15-20 minute battles simply because I needed to draw more spells.  The other main problem with FF8 was that for most of the game, Squall was a completely uninteresting and unlikeable main character.  His only motivations seemed to either be apathy or just plain rudeness, which made me really dislike him.  

That being said, FF8 does have possibly the best soundtrack of any FF game.  'Liberi Fatali' is really an incredible piece.

Yep, Shadow Hearts Covenant is a great game - I would highly recommend it. Though, I'm pretty sure LE's thoughts on it was it got . . . what's the word . . . maybe silly? Or had an identity crisis of sorts when Joachim was introduced into the story. Anyways, something along those lines.

IIRC, Gratch really loved it.  Judging by how much I'm enjoying the first Shadow Hearts (which I'll finish Monday) I have no doubt I'll love SH:C too.

That I did.  SH:  C is easily my favorite next gen RPG.  Honestly, I thought everything about that game was as close to perfect as you can get.  Great combat system, fantastic story, memorable characters, excellent soundtrack, perfect voice work, etc., etc.  Someone in another thread mentioned that SH:  C was one of the few games that they really felt emotionally attached to the characters, and I agree.  It sounds strange, but I was actually sad when the game ended simply because I was leaving such a fantastic group of characters.  I can count the number of games that elicit that type of reaction with me on 4 fingers (FFVII, Xenosaga, Beyond Good & Evil, & SH:  C).

Oddly enough, I picked up the first SH game completely on a whim, only because I knew Mitsuda had a hand in the music.  Wasn't expecting much, and the game just floored me.  I can't recommend the SH series highly enough.  If you're an RPG fan, you owe it to yourself to play them.

There, is that a glowing enough endorsement?  

Is it bad to admit I got chills watching that?  I'm trying not to get sucked in by the hype (I remember thinking how amazing the Ep 1 & 2 trailers looked), but it's becoming really damn hard.  Everything I've seen looks fantastic.  Maybe, just maybe, Ep III will actually be as good as we hope.

8 hours in now, and I'm actually starting to complete some of the storyline parts.  The further I get, the stronger the story becomes, with some genuinely funny and interesting elements.  My favorite line so far was Viper to Viser:  "C'mon, don't be such a dick."

I am a growing quite frustrated by the fact I can't seem to find any of the 'Rank Up' items.  All my characters now have every available abilities and skills, so I don't really have a way to advance them any further until I find these stupid items.  Grrr...   :x

Heh, that subject line gave me a chuckle.  I felt exactly the same way about FF X-2.  I picked it up on release after reading the reviews talk about how great the battle system was and how it really expanded some of the characters.  Put in about 4 hours before I lost the ability to stomach the giggling schoolgirl/Barbie/Charlies Angels feel of the whole thing.  About the time Yuna got to her second Britney Spears-ish song and dance number, I shelved it in complete disgust.

I have Skinny Puppy's Greatest Hits, Assemblage 23's 'Failure', and Fronline Assembly's 'Implode' on my XBox.  They make for superb racing music.

wow!...

get it while it's hot - spreadsheet for item fusions here...

Awesome, thanks!

I put in about 4 more hours today, mainly getting a really good handle on the battle mechanics.  I've basically just been doing catacomb battles and trying to get all my characters levelled evenly.  I picked up an 'Iron Fist' melee fighter along with the cleric, so my party of 5 is now all at 5th level.  I've only played through 3 (?) of the actual storyline scenarios so far, but am having a blast fiddling about in the catacombs.  

Thankfully, the more I play, the more I am enjoying it.  The ability to adjust turn order and AP points adds a great layer of strategy to 'ye old grid/turn based' game mechanic.  I can't vouch much for the story (since I haven't really gotten into it), but that actually says a lot about how fun the battle system is, since I usually only enjoy games with solid storylines.  As I said before, SD truly feels like the spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics, and is very good so far.  

EDIT:  Are the items needed to 'Rank Up' obtained through the storyline?  Do you have to buy them?  Do you win them randomly in catacomb battles?  Anyone know?