I never got the "freedom" people talk about in Farcry. The places that don't have anything to do with the main game are just jungle and shoreline. Its fun to explore for awhile but there's no other reason to wander and it got boring with nothing to reward exploring. You still had to go to a specific place and do a specific thing in order to move forward like any FPS. Its nice to look at but it was style and not much substance for me.

They mean the fact that maps were wide open so that you could go about attacking a camp from any direction, instead of being lead straight into it without any other options.

*shrug* So? Don't see how that really changes the game. You go in from the left and fight those soldiers first and then the others, or vice versa. Its the same experience wether you went straight in or circled to the back. Its not like you had some sort of moment like say from the movie Predator were Arnold's character improvises with the truck on the blocks and the bomb. Now if they had put something along those lines in there to reward the player for taking their time to asses the situation then ok I would agree thats cool, but its not there. The same experience from a diffrent angle makes no diffrence to me. It might as well be a corridor setup then.

I never got the "freedom" people talk about in Farcry. The places that don't have anything to do with the main game are just jungle and shoreline. Its fun to explore for awhile but there's no other reason to wander and it got boring with nothing to reward exploring. You still had to go to a specific place and do a specific thing in order to move forward like any FPS. Its nice to look at but it was style and not much substance for me.

Jez, that about missing the point people. I think what  Iwata is trying to convey is just releasing a new system that can just push more polygons and preform more calculations is not the direction he wants to head in..

The sole reason he "thinks this way" is because he knows Nintendo isn't going to compete with the 800 pund Gorillas in MS and Sony in that area alone. Nintendo was happy to do the standard stuff with consoles for years and now it not the way to go suddenly? Please, I will give Nintendo credit for trying something new with the DS but this change in thinking is 100% a reaction to Sony and MS.

+1 to Zoyd for a quick trade. Thanks.

I gave up before my free month ended too.  It's a shame, it almost ruined my on MMOs.  Glad I took a chance on WoW, since I love that one.

Exactly the same here. I felt I had basically flushed $60 down the toilet with SWG. It took about 5 diffrent friends telling me to give WoW a try, and I finally did. This is the first MMO I can actually see myself getting to the highest level in.


Kinda wish EQ2 hadn't come out at the same time. Would have liked to at least give that a try but one MMO is more than enough.

I have Pirates!(its a DVD) up for trade. My first interest is for Vampire: Bloodlines. If not that then Warhammer: Dawn of War or The Sims 2.

BG II

I've read of other people who got their Thompson drives replaced for free since they are such a problem after the warrenty. Maybe its just luck as to the person you get on the phone. I'd call them up and basically be an ass if they gave me a hard time about it. My guess is they see if they can get people to pony up the $100 for the DVD drive fix and only do it free if the person pushes the issue.

Half-Life
BG II

I'd say look around. Was in Walmart on Tuesday and they had a sign about shortages on Xbox's and PS2's, but the previous night when I was in Gamestop(looking for WoW which they were out of) they had Ps2's and Xboxs stacked behind the counter.

It took them 3 years to make a sequal for a game on a system that they had experience with. They arn't going to push a sequal out in one year on a brand new system.

Have been wary of the game since I herd it was coming out only a year after the first. They talked about a number of changes but was suspicious that they could do that and get a polished game out the door so soon. Looks like they didn't do it.

Like malichai11 posted who says it has to be some publisher like EA or MS? Firaxis themselves could have bought it out.

I personally dislike the concept of somehow "earning" your levels, as if grinding away killing rats for three hours is some kind of virtue.

Agree 100%. This reminds me of an ad for Guild Wars in a magazine. I loved one of the lines in it ha that sums up my feelings on these games completely. It went something like "This is an online RPG built to be enjoyed not endured".

Not saying Guild Wars will live up to that line or WoW, I just like the sentiment behind that statement.

I wouldn't woory either about this game. As Fellow said the guys behind it are veterens of the industry. I also don't expect anything really new. This will probably be essentially a big stand alone expansion pack. What I like to call a 1.5 version game. But I don't mind that since I enjoyed the first one allot.

This person sounds like their just rattling off whatever is the latest internet rumors for the machine. I doubt she's in the inner loop of the development if her current job is doing demos in Circut City.


Maybe for the hardcore gamers the PS2's backwards compatibility was a factor, but I'd say DVD drive was a bigger point in general for people looking to get the system at the time of its release.

I'd have to say the first post sounded trollish to me too. I mean someone complains about the game being to vague and zoning when they say they have played EQ1 for 3 years? Sorry that makes no sense as EQ1 was one of the more unfriendly games to the new user you could play.

As far as the weight of the console is concerned, hold it exactly like Nintendo suggested inside the manual somewhere - one hand holding the Digital Pad/L Button (or the buttons/R), the other on the other side, with your thumb aimed towards the center of the touch screen. It's a bit odd at first, but it distrubutes one's weight rather well.

The problem is the games that want to make use of the stylus. Its ok when you hold it with both hands, but one handed? Thats just going to become uncomfortable really quick.

Zone Alarm is one of the better firewalls with a free version.

Agree with BigRedCat I don't even bother to compare HL2 to anything like the miltary Rainbow Six stuff since its meant to be a diffrent experience.

I generall put FPS in 3 catagories

1- Serious Sam, Painkiller type games
2-Stuff like Halo, Half-Life etc
3- Rainbow 6, Ghost Recon style(one shot your dead type military shooters)

Not sure what I'd call the catagories. Maybe someone else can think of good names.

Well your doing what you have to do. Dispute the charges. You should also go back to the store and let them know that when they refuse to do a exchange. The few times I have been given the run-around when this stuff has happed I've simply said "Either give me a refund/exchange or I'm calling the bank and disputing the charges". Everytime they have gotten cooperative.

Didn't think I could have more fun than I've had trying all sorts of stuff out with the gravity gun, but after going through the part where you get to control the Ant Lions I may have. Those buggers were a blast mess around with. I'll admit though I had visions of Starship troopers when those things were around with the way they looked.

[great]

Very true but I do think that such a game shouldn't be call "revolutionary".


HL2 is a great FPS but it doesn't expand the genre in any way.   And in some ways (like those I mentioned) it is actually a step back in the genre.

Then you havn't gotten the gravity gun yet, and or havn't really tried to use it yet. There has been nothing ever in any game before that is similar to that gameplay mechanic. That right there qualifies as innovative. Stop think about just blasting the enemies as fast as you can and moving on(This isn't Serious Sam or Painkiller). I suspect there are people missing out on allot of potentially cool things because they think its just move and shoot. Your loss if this is how you think.

Another way it is really, really a step back is the linearity.  I am up to the point with the boat and so far it has been virutually impossible to get lost or confused becuase there is only one way to go anywhere.  Sure you can kill things in different ways but there is only one path through each of the levels.

Why do people complain about linearity in a FPS? There all linear. The only one ever to maybe be able to say its not is Farcry in its outdoor areas. Otherwise this is a complaint you would have for any FPS out there. And whats bad about linear. There are tons of great games like side-scrolling stuff that are linear but fun. Wether a game is linear or not doesn't mean it isn't good.

The gravity gun is just a blast. Its another innovative thing thats the first gamplay mechanic to truely show off what a phyics system can do. The objects also behave pretty close to reality. This isn't the goofy floaty physics that so many games before have done(i.e. where everything feels like its made of styrofoam). Drop a concrete block and it thuds like one. Shoot off a tire and it will roll, bounce and spin like a tire would.

Half-Life
Civilization

Baldur's Gate 2
Alpha Centauri

I personally would rather have online one-time authentication if it was used instead of stuff like Starforce and SafeDisc.

Ghost Recon 2-
someone tell me, please, what is the difference with this and the PC version, and why was the PC version delayed?

Don't know of any diffrences with that version other than the Xbox was the lead platform so the PC version will be a port job. The PS2 version is the diffent one(made by a seperate group).

Gettting better performance with 16bit over 32bit hasn't been a issue for years now. Those times left with the 3dfx Voodoo days.

Ultima VII
Half-Life
Civilization
Planescape: Torment

Baldur's Gate 2
Master of Orion 2
Starcraft
Alpha Centauri

The LOD was noticable at times, mostly when they switched to a close up on a character and it happened, but I thought it was minor myself.

So places like BB(possibly with the ok of Viviendi) start to sell the game early . What do gamers here to? Rag on Valve more even though they had nothing to do with it and are stuck with not activation the game until the 16th for contract reasons. I swear this Valve bashing is just getting pathetic people. Is it possible for you complainers to give them a break just once?  SHeesh people...

The one game this year I'll be getting as soon as it goes on sale. Will probably be one of those schmucks waiting in line several hours to get the pre-order. Sorta sucks seeing now that their releasing Bloodlines the same day. Really interested in that game but HL2 is 6 years in waiting and I know I won't be able to hold out.

Guess its area to area. My local Gamestop has always kept a PC section. Its been moved around as all the new consoles have come in but they carry all the new stuff and a fair amount of older stuff. Maybe its because I live in a college town so the percentage of PC gamers is higher or something.

Rome: Total War
Ultima VII
Half-Life
Age of Wonders 2
The Secret of Monkey Island
Civilization
Panzer General
Ultima V

Freespace 2
Baldur's Gate 2
Diablo 2
Master of Orion 2
Starcraft
Knights of the Old Republic
Civilization 2
Master of Magic

You know Jumangi, your bard can summons a healer.

The healer is pretty neat because she is pretty good (not great) at healing in the heat of battle. However, the baddies tend to go after her if I don't position myself carefully. And the healer of course is a very weak fighter and is dispatched pretty easily. However, if you sneak away from the battle, you simply re summons her and away you go.

With the healer I have no need to use the summons Angel.

WHile I am not loving this game yet, it is pretty fun to play and as soon as I finish here, I'm going back to it.

Yes I know you get that. That doesn't help me if I want to use the other characters though. Also as you said the healer is a very weak fighter. Bottom line IMO just keep the darn simple mana/healing potion mechanic(one button). Yea its old but it works.

The Halo series was designed as a trilogy, I think they said something along those lines in an interview.  I wouldn't be surprised if they went to four games considering the first one was so low on story content.

What isn't at least a trilogy these days.

If interested, look on eBay for dirt cheap deals, and when it's time to ante up for another year of subscription service via Norton, just go back to eBay and buy another copy for less than the subscription renewal fee.

The subscription service time resets itself every time you install it.

Is this game a port of some sort from the console's Rising Sun?

No, the MOH games on the PC and console have always been seperate. Same theme of course but diffrent teams and engines used.

[a lot]

I played the demo for pc yesterday, on my aging computer. It's a 1.2 Thunderbird, with 512 MB RAM and a geforce4 t4400. Anyway, the demo only featured the first 3 levels, but I liked them a lot!

If you don't mind what you got in the first 3 levels for the rest of the game then you'll be happy with it.

The no invert for the camera is annoying but so far I have learned to live with it. No idea why they don't have it since the other games using this engine have it. The bigger problem is the totally dumb way of healing. The basic gameplay is still the hack'n slash of the DA games so you need the ability to quickly heal whne your in the thick of it, but they make you do three things(right trigger + a + b) to heal instead of one button, then you have to watch the same short scene of the angel over an over again. How someone thought this was a good idea is beyond me.