I have his number, and I know of others who do. Rich doesn't appear to want to communicate with us at the moment. if that changes and I hear something I can pass on I'll do so immediately.

Yep, that's what I mean. Something's wrong, and I'm pretty concerned.

What if it's his wife that's making the decisions right now? I bet she has a pretty different take on the site and everything around it. Someone said they called their old number and a woman hung up on them as soon as they mentioned GG. Maybe she decided to pull the plug.

She had a different take but she always would honor Rich's wishes regarding the site.  She knows how much it means to him.


Yes something is seriously wrong.  Rich in his right mind wouldn't do this without telling someone (as others have pointed out).  His wife in her right mind wouldn't yank things either.  Something is very wrong and it makes me very sad.  

Rich was/is a very very good man and life dumped a pile of crap on his door so often I wonder if the universe had it in for him.

Personally, I don't want to see the DS fail. Once again Nintendo shows off innovation, and I'd like to see it succeed. It's a pretty interesting idea, having a console with dual screens.

Of course, the last console they released with two screens (the Virtual Boy) failed like nobody's business...

I will believe it when I see a game which really seems inovative and really uses the two screens.

I don't see having the map always open as an inovative use, and I haven't seen much about how games like Mario 64 DS, or Llinks will use the second screen.

Truthfully Nintendo stated before they didn't expect everyone to buy the thing, so you just wanting it to fail is kind of selfish.  Do you really think they're going to stop support of the sp because of the ds?  If the ds isn't the next gameboy as Nintendo has stated again and again, the sp has nothing at all to worry about support wise.  On the contrary, you might even see more GBA games because they'll work on both the SP and the DS.

Of course it is selfish!    

And yes I think if the DS is a hit that there will be less and less development on the GBA.  I think that is the way of things.  

Did you see more PSX games because they could also play on the PS2?  I mean come on.  If the DS sells strongly more and more developers will more to it (at least I think they will)

I know it may be mean but I am hoping the DS is a huge flop.  I only feel this way because I see a ton of potential still left in the GBA and I think that developers will jump on the bandwagon if the DS becomes popular.

I am also completly unimpressed with the show case of stuff on the DS.  For one thing I hate on-line/wireless gaming.  I am 30 something and my friends don't own handhelds so I am not going to be using any of those capabilities.  

And other than the wireless stuff the DS has squat.  None of the games shown so far use the dual screens in a way that really seems groud breaking.  Metroid - wow you can see the map at the same time!!!! Wow....having to hit "select" to bring up the map all these years has been such a drain...err.  


I really think the GBA has a lot of life left in it and I hate to see new stuff push it out of the way just because it is new.  Look at the screens for Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts.  They are great!  There is not technological reason to upgrade from the graphics standpoint.  It feels to me like Nintendo just wants a new cash source - after all while they have sold millions of GBAs they are not making as much money on them once they are bought.  

Of course, maybe I am just being unwilling to change.  I love my GBA SP and I don't want to have to buy a new machine when this one works great.

As much as my extreme console bias makes me feel uncomfortable here, I kind of agree.  We're all going to get split up between 600  new GG forums if we keep running around.

Just wait.  Six months from now you will be playing Animal Crossing wirelessly on your Nintendo DS in the bathroom at work with Chuck from accounting in the next stall.....

LOL

What a wonderful world.  Well at least it will force geeks to brush up on legal practices!


Beats me what to make of it really.  VU is just hurting themselves it seems, but I guess they must figure it is worth more to Valve to be able to get it on store shelves (and sold through Steam) than whatever concessions VU wants.

Anyone else's bullshit meter go off the charts?

I mean this would be the greatest piece of software ever created.

 "a near-universal emulator that allows software developed for one platform to run on any other, with almost no performance hit."  So I can run Windows XP on my Mac?  I can run my Mac software on the PC?  Hell I can run my Dreamcast games on my PC at the same performance as they ran on the Dreamcast?  How about N64 games?

Everyone would simply buy the cheapest computer and then use this to run whatever they wanted.....glorious if true but come on.


And their "demonstrations" don't do much to convince me.  "In demonstrations to press and analysts, the company has shown a graphically demanding game -- a Linux version of Quake III -- running on an Apple PowerBook."  Umm what OS?  Because OS X is basically Linux so that isn't exactly a big woop.  


Show me the Windows Server 2003 running on an Imac and you will convince me.

Today's Penny Arcade makes me feel better since now I know it isn't just me who thinks that the computer AI is a drunken idiot.  

As I made a quip on the front page the other day - WHY can't developers release games during the summer? The kids (who are the average gaming population) are off from school.

Look: Bored kids = instant gaming sales.

Duh.

I think that the classic marketing says that kids will be outside in the summer.  The same reason they don't have a TV season in the summer.  People are outside.

Thanks that helps a bit.  It is still rather confusing sometimes.  Oddly enough I have only lost one battle - and I don't have a clue what is going on!

Now it is mostly trying to remember what each card does when trying to build a deck.  The names just seem to be random and without reading the full card I never have a clue.

I am hoping to pick the brains of people who are in the know because this game is somewhat confusing.


1. when I put a card in my "mana zone" does that mean I cannot ever use if for that fight?

2. is there an advantage to putting one card or another (of the same color) into the mana pile?  I mean if both a 5000 strength blocker and a 1000 point spell put in the same amount of mana why would I ever put in the expensive cards?

3. Can someone explain battles a bit?  Last night for example I had three monsters summoned but I never got the opportunity to attack.  Then suddenly I could....I think I can only attack if one of the enemy monsters is already tapped but I am not sure.  So any insight would be great.


Thanks
Farley

So is it worth it?  I liked FM3 quite a bit but FM4 never seems to generate much hype so I don't know if it was bad or if it is just a genre of limited interest.

I loved the concept, the art, the story, and the voice work but I hate it when a game is a chore to play.

The perfect examples (to me) are the barrles in the colosium.  No mosters but hard....why?  Because the combat is so bad mixed with the camera that it is difficult to hit the barrel correctly to smack the one on the far away platform!

The other example as I have said is the rafters in the Tarzan level.  It is very difficult to walk on them sucessfully because the camera keeps moving all around which means that walking forward is about impossible.  You have to keep moving the camera to stop the perspective from changing and the character from falling.


Those are game mechanic issues which ruined the fun for me.  It wasn't the enemies, the AI, or the puzzles but the underlying game mechanics that suck the fun out of the game.

Well I got it.  Who can resist for $16.  Even if I hate it I can probably get $10 in credit at the local used game shop.

Hopefully it will be fun.  I am excited to try it but I really want to finish FFTA (no matter how annoying it is being)

I saw that the GBA game Duel Masters is on sale for $16 this week.  It is worth it?  I have never tried the Yu-Gi-Oh type games but I am running out of stuff to play on the GBA.

(seems like I only post to bitch...I should try to post something positive...later)


So I am about 32 hours into FFTA and for the last bit (about 2-3 hours) the law cards have really been sucking the fun from the game.  It had become an excercise in wandering around locations waiting for reasonable laws, rather than trying to plan out how to win the fight or learn new skills. But now, it seems like the really crippiling stuff is spaced such that it is impossible to avoide.  Stuff like "color magic", "blades", "techniques", or "status" are now so common that I either have to wait for that one perfect day when they are not in effect or just give up.  

Give up you say?  Why?  Because I don't have the correct anti-law cards to do anything about most of the laws anymore.  The only place to get new ones besides missions is from the trader and he has basically nothing.  My highest R card is R4 anti-law but most of the laws are now R5 or R6 - so I have squat.


Then there is the whole unclearness of the cards vs. the names.  For example is "El Cid" a great sword, a knightsword, or a saber?  Is Phantasma a skill, or a technique?  Why the f*#k do I get a card for using "white magic" when holy is illegal?  Why isn't it called "holy magic"?  So they can outlaw it twice?  Once with holy and once with color magic?  Now I am sure I could read every description of every weapon and every spell but dammit I shouldn't have to!  That is tedious to the extreme and isn't the least bit fun.

So now that I am so invested in the game I have to decide if it is worth going on at all.  I think I am tough enough to finish the required missions so I think I may just give up trying to learn cool new abilities and just finish the game which is too bad becuase I was enjoying dinking around trying to learn all sorts of new stuff.

Is there a point where the laws go away?  Or at least go back to a reasonable amount?

It is skippable, actually.  Further in the game you can just teleport to different worlds if you wish to bypass that.

Wonderful!  Between that and the promise of larger areas later in the game I feel compelled to keep pushing through.

Hey now, I enjoyed that part of the game.  Where's the fun in just teleporting from world to world?

It was fairly mundane until I decided to go and build the ultimate gummi ship.  That's fun!

Seriously?  I didn't even mention that part of the game becaue I just assumed everyone hated it.  

It wouldn't have been so bad if there was a point to it but it just was tedious.  Want to buy some potions?  Oh well hold down the fire button which leafing through a magazine until you end up back in traverse town....yawn...

It was one of the worst mini-games I have ever seen, mostly because it was unavoidable!  At least most mini-games can be skipped if players don't like them, this one was forced down players throats quite frequently.

Even if it was fun it would still drive me nuts to have it happen so often.

I picked it up since it is only $20 and I have to say it is the most beautiful piece of crap I have ever played.

The camera is worse than bad.  It actually fights the player.  In the levels it tries to follow which means that walking forward changes all the time.  For example in the Tarzan level when you are in the big house and walking on the rafters, the camera constantly keeps moving so you fall down because it walks Sora off the edge but you meant to be walking along the beam!  

My only other gripe is that the levels are so small.  It almost feels clausterphobic.  Almost all the levels are surrounded by really tall trees or some such thing to trap the player. Traverse Town is the biggest level so far with wide open areas.  Nothing else has had that in the first 3 worlds.

I love the Disney theme, the voice acting, the visuals, etc. but it is like work to play the game.  I work enough.

Of course then I saw this review on RPGFan where they say

The combat in Star Ocean: Till the End of Time can be described as nothing less than heavenly. It is fast, furious, and ultimately fun throughout the entirety of the game.

and

The battle system in Star Ocean is truly the highlight of the experience.

So who knows?  I guess I will wait for those of you with more guts to try it and get some more opinions.

Ok so can you tell us if it is going to have a strong enough story to carry the game or will all this free choice stuff make it aimless like Morrowind.  I liked Morrowind but I often wandered around with no real sense of what I needed to do next.

I hope Fable will have a more focused story.

There does seem to be a trend towards overly complicated combat systems.  I hope that FF12 (I am not a Roman and do not use their numbers - long live the USA!)  will be better than most though.

Of course we have a year to wait at best guess so who knows.

I got my EGM yesterday and they had a review of Star Ocean 3 and they were not too happy with it.

I don't have it with me at work but it boiled down to complaints about the combat system.  They felt it was overly complicated, not intiutive, and got dull.  The combat system is what most other reviewers/previews have said is the high point in the game so I am concerned thaty they seemed to hate it.

Now I think the game has moved to a wait for more player reviews before buying rather than a rush out on release day purchase.

Sad to say that is about all that is on my radar too, except for Final Fantasy 1 & 2 which should be incredible.

I know that Nintendo says the DS isn't the GBA replacement but I get a strong feeling that we may be seeing the end of the GBA.  Oh it will take a couple years to finish up all that is already started and planned but I think - especially if the DS does well - that Nintendo will start focusing on the DS and dump the GBA

I have been playing this for the last few days and for such a high quality game it certainly has some gapping flaws that I think wouldn't have been that hard to fix.

First and formost is the enemy AI.  They are just plain dumb.  Example - they shoot at my main guy almost to the exclusion of the other characters.  Last night was one funny example.  On its first move the AI used "Charm" on my powerful illusionist!  Wow.  I was going to be screwed, so I quickly wacked him out of it.  Thus wasting a move for one of my characters, and hurting my illusionist!  Great, right?  Well sort of.  On its next turn with that female archer does the AI show the same brains?  No they attack my main guy for a whopping 4 damage!  Gee that hurts.

They constantly do that stupid stuff.  They will fire arrows at characters who have the "block arrows" skill, or will attack a character will full health who is a mage rather than a character with 4 HP who is a fighter.  I can only assume the AI ranks enemies based on their skills not on their HP as the fight goes on.  That is just bad programing.

It is bad enough that aside from the fun of getting new skills to try out there is no excitement in the battles at all.  I really wish they would have made the game a bit better...or even more I wish it was still possible to find Tactics Ogre which had much better AI.

Lord Of the Rings: The Third Age - Not really I sequel, but I just can't see how this game can deliver anything more than bland reverse-mirror look at the movies. Since EA is limited to only portraying things that were in the Jackson flicks and can't pull any leftover material from the books, I just can't see how they can make a story with an interesting narrative and characters that aren't thin stand-ins for the characters from the movies.

Yes but from the magazine article I read while they can't put in stuff from the books that Jackson didn't use (like Tom Bombidale) they can put in stuff that is new - meaning not in the books or in the movies provided it could be "infered" from things mentioned in the movie....now I have no clue what that means exactly but it does give them some room to make a story.

I am happy people like it but I just couldn't stand it.  I found the combat to be...ok but not great.  It drove me nuts to be one of the melee fighters and never be able to pull of combos.  I would get the first two hits and then some monster would hit me from behind!   It was maddening and sucked a lot of fun out of it.

And then the voice acting...."Do you feel lucky, punk?  Statistically your chances are not gooo."  Wow, so bad, so very, very, very bad.

The puzzle elements were just pathetic.  Gee a big crate!  I wonder who should try to move it...a vine covered wall...whatever will I do?  


All in all it was a "C" game and with so many "A" games out there I just couldn't see wasting my time.

I plan to pick up Tales as soon as it is $19.99

Now that it is a Greatest Hit (only $19.99) I am thinking about playing KH but I can't decide.

I generally don't like action/rpgs, but I did really like Zelda: Wind Waker.  However I hated Prince of Persia's combat  I do love Square games generally and I am sure the production values will be high.

I am a bit concerned though about how long the game is and how hard it is.  I am planning on picking up Star Ocean at the end of August so I only need a game for a month - which for me translates into maybe 20-30 gaming hours.  How long is KH?

And then the difficulty.  I have read several reviews which say the game is at times fustratingly hard.  I hate that!  If reviewers say a game is hard for them I can pretty much bet that I will be driven nuts.  I don't want to play a game for fustration, I don't find a sense of accomplishment from restarting 10 times - I just feel pissed.  I admit it - I like easier games.


So based on that, should I bother with KH?

I admit I only read the IGN review but it seems like the demo was actually a good indication of what the game is like.  Combat great and fun but not much story or other stuff.

Oh well I will probably pick it up or rent it just becuase I am an RPG junkie.

I love the game, really but I have to say I hope they work on the combat in the next game (and I really hope they make another game with this engine becuase it is very good)

I have bought every possible upgrade but combat is still a button mash.  I Maybe I am doing it wrong but I have never gotten a combo pulled off by choice.  I get one I try that button combo until I am almost dead and then give up and button mash.

That and how in the hell do all these criminals get so quick?  It is about impossible to hit those guys with webbing after you get close.  They can dodge a ton of times!  Come on!  Are they all superheroes too?

Anyone catch the "making the game" show on MTV about Spiderman 2.  Lots of good interviews with the development team, tha actors, and even Stan Lee.  

It also showed lots of game footage.  I am very excited about the game now.  Only a few more days!

The PC version is different than the console versions, simple as that.  Activision confirmed that the PC version is for younger aged people than the console version.  So, basically, the only way you'll get the GTA3 like gameplay is if you get it on the consoles.

LOL!  So GTA3 like gameplay is for the younger aged people...  

It is nice to have a clear choice though.  Not much chance of my getting the PC version.

Does anyone know what the deal is with the console version vs. the PC version?  A demo was released for the PC which sounds completly unlike what is described in the console preview.  I also seem to remember that two different companies are making the different versions.  So what is going on?


Now as to the specifics of the preview - how is the main story?  Does it just basically re-do the movie?

At least according to Gamershell

I am sitll on the fence about the game since it is more of an action RPG, and I would have to dig out the Cube, dust it off and plug it in to play but I do like those Japaness RPGs.

Is anyone planning on rushing out to get it?

Well, the camera issues will subside a bit by the time you reach about mission 4., so you should be out of the woods soon.

Yeah, but I bet the missions get harder.  So it is out of the woods and into the fire.

And about the review - I would have given something slightly lower on the camera.  I find that sometimes when I am say 3 quarters of the way along a wall it is really hard to get  a good angle to see how far to move the team so my leader looks around the wall.  Perhaps not a big deal but sometimes it is annoying.

I also am almost sick (and I am only on the 2nd mission!) of the "yo, Bravo!" comments that the guy makes - every time!  Why can't he make comments once out of every 3 times or something.

My wife was sitting in the same room reading and had to leave.  She said "I am sure that while playing you don't notice the repetition but it is really annoying."

It is a lot of work but I must admit it is one of the main things I end up searching the net for so I bet it will be popular.

Maybe you need a cheat section for games that have these hidden goodies.

The one time I laughed was when the GBA first came out and Tyco (I think) was sitting there playing with it and each panel had more and more light in it. That one was spot-on.

It's usually the sublte "secondary" joke that makes for the good strips... the main plot (as it were) is rarely worthwhile.

Such as this one... http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-11-28&res=l

The dialogue isn't the funny part - it's the fact that those huge things are supposed to be the Xbox controllers.

I found the dialogue pretty darn funny in that one!  Perhaps because I did find the alien spaceship levels to be rather repeditive...