Same story in North Carolina.  They actually stated they got some regular editions, but no collectors editions.  I'm seriously considering saying screw Gamestop and just wait till this weekend to get it from a Best Buy or Target.  Companies have to have consequences and repercusions no matter what reason for the screwup.

25 hours in and I absolutely LOVE Fran's voice.  This is a big statement, but I believe it's the best voice acting in a video game EVER.

Another reason for ranged weapons is that from time to time you will come up against a flying enemy and you'll need ranged attacks.

IN Baby!

User Name: UNCJones

Can't wait.  Taking a half day off tommorow.

Not looking at the game now, but maybe someting saying steal when the enemy is at 100% health.  After that first hit you should move to your second gambit.

A muticlassed bard/duelist with high dexterity could be very nice.  The fact that they use dextrity for nice evades and as a bard you can cast some magic for sheiding should make a good combo. 

If you are having trouble deciding what class to be, I suggest going to the NWN2 boards.  A lot of discussion of different class builds.

Even with the gambit system on you can change party leaders on the fly and cast what ever spell you want.  It's pretty intuitive if you ask me.  It also adds some tactics as i was having a hard time beating one boss, but after changing gambits around I was able to over comeit.  Very fun so far.

The most negative review I have seen yet   Thet really didn't like the game.  It sounds like they gave it an 8.0 just because it's Final Fantasy.  it seems you will either hate or love this game.  I hope I love it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?fs=1&id=1684

I was thinking about that as money is not a problem, but I don't forsee PS3's being easily available until February or March of next year at least.  Supply is going to be extremly limited.

I think the souless part comes from Sony nor the game developers really talking about the game itself (charecters, plot, history, etc).  All you here about is the graphice: How many charecters on screen at once, the resolution, colors, framerate.  That's all well and good but give me some plot or something to get me interested.  The only games we really know much about are the multiplatform games like Assassins Creed and sequels like Metal Gear and Devil May Cry.  I'm getting a PS3 at some point regardless (RPG Nut), but your souless part is on the mark.

I don't think I'll get a PS3 till mid year next year,so about 7-8 months maybe.  It's not that I can't afford one, it's just I don't see great games coming out until that time at least.  Resistance and Lair don't seem like good enough reasons to own one right now.  Although there are ton of games out there, my time can get limited, so i've adopted the great game philosophy.  I only really buyB+ to A titles and concentrate on those.  I figure the PS2 willonly have a few more.  I still think i'll get one though, and get FFXII from Circuit City.

I had a roomate who had a PS2 so I just used his for playing games, but now I have my own place and Final Fantasy XII comes out in a few days.  I'm wondering if it's really worth it to pay $100-$130 for a PS2 now.  Are there still more good games coming down the pipeline?  I already have a 360 and I'll get a PS3 sometime next year when more are available and more good games hit the U.S.  The only other really good PS2 game I can think of coming out is God of War2.

Those poitrait screenies must be from a weak machine.  I have the toolset and the graphics are Wonderful.  I am so looking forward to this and future mods people make.

About 4 hours in and i'm liking the game so far.  Haven't gotten to any really difficult battles yet, but the mechanics seem pretty good.  Makato doesn't bother me too much, besides the party need a healer.  The cxonstant tutorial for the first 3 hours can get annoying, but once you're through it you don't have to worry about it again.  I'd give the game a 7.5 to an 8 so far.  I should have a better idea after another 10 hours or so.

The annimation does look a bit off, but I'm praying that with all the time and effort they are putting into this, that the game will shine when released.  It wouldn't surprise me to see it delayed ala GRAW.  It worked out pretty well for that game.

While Too Human has dissapointed me a bit with the trailer, everything i've seen so far for my other must buy title Mass Effect looks and sounds splendid.  IGN had some hands on time with it and came away very impressed, but it's Bioware, so what else do you expect.

Actually that is Oct. 16th 2007.  So they will both be out at the same time.

For me the exclusives between the PS3 and 360 are about the same.  Don't forget three HUGE ones (at least for me), Mass Effect, Too Human, and Gears of War.  Also as far as games on both consoles, I think I'll e getting those for the 360 as I LOVE the 360 controller.  It's the best controller ever made if you ask me.  The dual shock is ok, but it's nowhere near as comfortable as the 360 controller.  MS really hit a homerun with that controller.

Are you kidding me?  Mass Effect, Too Human, Fable 2, Forza 2, Blue Dragon, Saints Row... What do all of these have in common?  They are all looking to be grade A titles, none of them is an FPS, and they are all 360 exclusives.  I'm sure I'm forgeting a lot more.  People just see what they want to see.  Both systems are gonna have some great games, the thing is the PS3 is gonna come at an extra $200 when people already felt $400 was pretty expensive.  Sony jumped on Blueray a generation too early.  It will not be widely adopted for some time yet.

Also, personally Bioware has reached Square proportions in my book.  Meaning their rpgs are too the point that I buy them regardless because I know the production value will be top nothch.

So many changes and readjustments for the PS3, and we are suppose to see a worldwide lauch in early November?  For some reason it just feels like Sony does not have their sh** together.  I'm glad I have a 360, I can afford to wait to see how this all turns out.

Anyone get access to the Arcane University yet.  I'm still doing reccommendation quest.  I love how varied the quest are, some are quick and others have me getting jumped by a rouge mage near an oblivion gate.  The elven ruins is some of the best dungeon crawling EVER, dark corners, traps, zombies, and lots of mysterious section where stuff can just jump out at you.

I hear you on some of your nitpicks Kevin, the biggest one for me is the map and not having a country wide map.  As far as not finidng peopl, at night i find that if I really want to find them, I can wait for 6hours by just hitting the back button.  Otherwise i run off and do something else until it's daylight again.

Hey The_Man,

Yes, I've done that part and it can get really hairy, some tough stuff in there.  Remember to make it your active quest, and you should be able to find the right place to go.  Don't forget the map will show you where you need to go also once that's set.  If you are still having problems hit me up on xbox live, I'm (UNCJones), I need more online friends anyway.  I only have 4 right now, hehe.

Well it's after your first visit there, once you bring Martin back...

Man I'm jonesing to play really badly.  I should have called out of work.  I may take a nice two hour lunch thoug since I work 5 minutes from home.

I hope this isn't something you guys consder a big spoiler, but:


After you finish one part of the main quest early on, you get a free horse.

Well there seems to be no control over the creture.  He pretty much goes out and attacks the first enemy he sees.  The good thing about it is it seems to automatically get the attention of enemies.  Now if my skeleton is beating on a goblin, then I hit it with spells, it will eventually decide to come after me instead as it sees me as a bigg threat.  The early skellies don't last long in battle though.  About 3 to 4 hits and it's down.  What I use it fo right now is distraction so that i can get a couple spells of while it engages the enemy, or against multiple enemies, it holds one off while I take on the other.

Well I put about 5 hours in myself last night.  I decided to go right into the main quest a bit so I've done about three parts so far.  Very good storyline.  I also joined the Mages guild and ran a few errands for guild leaders, I can't wait to be able to make my own spells.

The game is very open ended of course, even during parts of the main quest you can just stop what you are doing and go on to doing whatever you want and come back later.  The cool thing I found was that the main quest has branching parts that turn into quest lines of their own, very cool.

My charecter is pretty much a high elf mage.  I went with willpower and inteligence and all my skills fall under those.  I think for you primary magic users, it may be kind of difficult to start because those starting spells are weak.  Remember conjuration though.  Having a skeleton to fight with me saved my butt a couple times, as it would keep them busy when i need to heal myself.  I'm up to lv3 right now, but I plan to get off the main quest for a while now and do mages guild stuff along with joining the dark brotherhood.

It's something how people want to make others feel the same way they do about a game, that's just idiotic.  if you don't like the game or the concept, then fine.  Find something you do like and move on, no need being a killjoy for people who are pumped, loved MW and already know they are gonna love  Oblivion.  It's really childish if you ask me., but we're gamers I guess we all have some inner child wanting to get out.  Some just use it to be a brat.

On to more important things, how does combat feel, especially the use of magic.  My one concern was that in goin with the 360 version I would not have the numerous hotkeys for spells and the like.

Some people get off on being assholes, It's just the way of the world.  Ignore him and move along.

Well my copy is already paid for through EB Games.  hopefully I get the call this afternoon while here at work.  One can only hope.  I still have a few more missions before I finish GRAW so if it doesn't come today, that will have to hold me over.

Anyway, while I'm here.  Is anyone concerned with how a mage will play in game on the 360?  With out having tons of hotkeys set for spells, I'm wondering how effective my Warwizard will be.

I can wait an extra day to get Oblivion, besides I'm near the end of GRAW and need to finish that first anyway.

Darnit, now I want to go get the guide too!  I almost want to say I can't wait to get the game and play it on my 50 inch Sony Wega HD TV, but I have GRAW and FNR3 so I think I'll be ok this weekend. :wink:

Well the game just keeps getting better and better for me.  I'm 22-2 right now and my opponents are starting to have equal to better stats then I do, so  I really have to concentrate.  One thing i have noticed is that some styles cause me more trouble then others.  Winky Wright i have taken on twice and just abused both times, knocking him out in the 5th in my last fight.  Jermaine taylor on the other hand has taken me to the brink both tims i've fought him.  The last fight being an epic 10 rounder where he had me on the ropes twice.  I knocked him down in the 9th, and then in the 10th I saw something I hadn't seen before.  We were both EXTREMELY tired and the next big punch might decide things.  Well I got lucky and blocked one of his punches properly and went with two body shots.  The body shots looked as if they actually lifted him off the ground i.e Rocky 4 when Rocky is pouding the Russianwith body shots.  The lift of taylor's body and the look on his face told me it was over, the second body shot started the danger sequence and a well timed uppercut did him in.  It was the best fighting ever.  DOA4 has nothing on this if you ask me.

Knightshade are you playing career mode or ESPN Classic fights or what?  Also what difficulty?  Hard seems pretty good to me.

Yes this game is much more strategic, it's about using your styles and abilities as best you can.  What the guys have said about getting tired is exactly correct, you can tell what's going on by the sharpness of punches, the expressions on their faces, and even if you can't take the hint, the commentators will allude to it during the fight, and your trainer might say something.  One of the things i've noticed as a speed puncher is that you can't forget to take your shot every now and then.  I fell in love with my quick snapping jabs but never took as many power punches as I should have, thus my opponent was not getting as beat up as he should have. (another reason I lost those two fights).

As you play and win popularity matches against some of the named fighters, you unlock a lot of the styles they use which is pretty cool for practicing and seeing what style suits you best.  Can't wait to unlock Joe Frazier's style and use that for my Tyson clone...

Well I've put in quite a few hours on the single player career mode.  I'm 16-2 right now and making my way up the ladder.  The early career figghts are pretty easy, partly because your stats are so much better then your opponents, as you progress, your ability to raise your stats through training begin to decrease while your competition gets better.  This can trick you as you get use to knocking your opponent down in 2 to 3 rounds and then the next thing you know you get a guy whose stats are getting close to yours and he hangs around with you until the 6th or 7th round.  My two losses have come due to the fact that I didn't adjust to taking on fighters who could take a punch and couter a lot better.  by the 6th round i had tired myself out and was easy pickings.

You tend to get offered 2-4 contracts with some being basic fights, some having popularity bonuses from fighting named fights, and others being hard hits fights.  Just recently I've had a few undercard matches in Madison Square garden which is cool, also i've had a rival rematch with the guy I beat to win the amature title.  My last fight gave a bonus of about 15k for knocking the guy out in the 6th round.  So far I would say the single player mode is pretty good and I don't think I'm even a 3rd through it.  I'm fighting on medium and the fights seem to be getting tougher to, so I'm not buying the easy fights story IGN had in there review.

Hope this helps people...

EXACTLY!  Gamestop and EB ARE getting more units, but instead of shipping them out to stores for all the preorders they took, they figured they could make a lot more money by selling bundled preorders online for $1000 and $1500.  it's sickening really, and the reason i have decided not to give them anymore of my money.  It's all Best Buy/Circuit City/Target and the like for me now.  I can wait a few extra days for a store to get games instead of preordring from the likes of Gamestop and EB.  They have totally lost my business and the business of a lot of my friends for the way they handled this.

Nintendo has been trying to get the non-gamer for years, what makes this console and it's games any different, a controller that looks like a dvd remote?  What is really gonna seperate what they are doing now from what they have done the last 7 years.  All I see is them again failing to get that non traditional gamer they have been after, but also not getting the hardcore gamer because we'll all be too busy playing on next generation consoles to fiddle with a system not too much improved over an xbox.  In the grand scheme of things, this console looks like it will fail miserably and lead to nintendo just doing handhelds and software for the big two.

Well I've been a gamer for a while and Nintendo was the company that really got me started.  I appreciate all they have done for gaming, but there view of consloe gaming has become really antiquated, which is why I haven't had a Nintendo system of any sort since the SNES.  They continue to try and rely on Mario, Zelda, and others and give gamers rehash after rehash of the same ole games.  Sure they have some new twist or look a little better, but I expect more out of a gaming system.  Clearly the Gamecube came in last in the colse wars of last Gen, and there is a reason for that.  it will be the same reaso they come in last this time around too, and they will then have to decide if they want to compete with the big boys or just become a software company.

Based upon the demand for the 360 so far, I would say a full year before seeing the PS3 in the U.S. is VERY big.  Microsoft will gain huge marketshare if they can prove to consumers that the 360 is a significant upgrade to the xbox, or PS2.  I think Sony needs to do a dual launch in the U.S and Japan in the Spring or they are gonna lose in the next generation war.

Just think if PS3 does not launch until next Holiday season, we would have seen Halo3, Gears of War, the two new bioware games, Too Human, Ninja Gaiden 2,  maybe a next gen Forza, and all of next years sports titles on the 360.  Those games are gonna be system sellers.  Sony better get it's act together quick, because I don't see too many great PS2 games coming out over the next year to keep gaming fans interested.

Not launching the PS3 in the U.S. till next holiday season would be a HUGE mistake.

I think a lto of people are comparing PS2 to the 360.  I don't see the same EXTREME shortages happening, also that $400.00 price point is gonna be tough on some people.  Best Buy might sell out, but Target, Sears, Comp USA.  They'll have some systems through day one.  Either way, I'll have a full court press going.  I'll check out the 24hr Walmart near me, and then I have a Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Comp YSA all within two 5 miles of each other.

Exactly.  the fact that its $400.00 plus the fact that it will hit before Thanksgiving leads me to believe that the first few days, you'll be able to fine one pretty easily.  The day after Thanksgiving though,all bets are off.