Well, I snapped and bought it and have 2 characters both around level 11, one 6 levels in (On hard) and one like 9 levels in on normal.

I'm iffy on if a mage character is viable.  If anyoen else has made one, let me know.

I made a mage character that is too viable, in other words, I feel totally overpowered.  I'm only level 11-12 or so, but with all my level ups going into magic, and a majority of my skillpoints going into charming, my army of 6 conjured pets obliterates everything in my path.  I mean, I'm only on the 13th floor of the dungeon and I have 6 level 33 wyverns following me around.  I'm going to start self imposing a limit of 2-3 summoned pets at once to try and make it feel balanced, because I really like the idea of throwing fireballs from afar while my minions hold the front.  Like I said though, I'm only level 11, so maybe it'll be tougher to be a summoner later on in the game.

I really like how your mana continuously recharges.  I prefer mana potions to be something you use in an emergency instead of being your only way of replenishing your mana bar.

lots of capital letters and steam coming out of the ears

Easy there!  Did I personally offend you somehow?  My original post included a winky face and everything!

For the record, I generally won't pay more than $30 for the games I buy.  There are occasionally must-have titles I pay a full $40-50 for, but I personally don't plan to buy any next-gen console titles at $60, I'm happy to wait for sales or the 'greatest hits' version.

I just found it amusing that we expect the price for games to be the same as they were 28 years ago. (According to Zarkon's 1977 comment.)  People are so sensitive these days...if the winky emoticon is powerless to keep people from being offended, who else can we turn to?

My only gripe with the game was that the auto-governing wasn't effective enough, you really had to micromanage to keep the cities from doing non-stupid things.  Are there any mods that do well to automate gruntwork and let you focus more on the bigger strategy?

That's interesting then, I got the impression from the video on IGN that the 2nd screen does nothing more than tell you how many coins and time left you have, even on scenes where it looks like M&L are being independently controlled.

What sounds really cool about the new Mario game is that you can play two player simulateously with two Ds's. You'll see me on your top screen and I'll see you on mine. Sounds like an neat way to use two screens on a handheld for co-op.

Is that on the Mario&Luigi RPG, or the Super Mario sidescroller?

What're the odds they'll do something cheesy like price it at $360? heh

Advance Wars, Mario & Luigi, the sidescroller Mario, Animal Crossing...these games are the ones making me consider buying a DS, and none of them really use the 2nd screen!  Animal Crossing uses it to constantly display clouds, that's handy!

Ah good, you're right, I got tricked from seeing . .. ... .... in that order.

The best controller ever was the NES Max.  Nice and light, comfortable feel, and the perfect placement of the 'A' turbo button made it easier than ever to fly as Racoon Mario.



The only controller that even comes close (and it's a close 2nd) is the 6 button Genesis controller.  The standard controller was too big, but the sleek 6 button was perfect.  It felt comfortable, the D-pad had the best "feel" to it of any D-pad past or present, and the buttons had great placement.

Yup

Ok, time to get scared about the new controller.  I hadn't seen this pic before, but it shows the Revolution has Gamecube controller ports.  I'm worried this means that the new controller is so insanely crazy different that it wouldn't be useable for Gamecube games.  One thing I know for sure, from that pic it looks like it isn't possible to plug in a Wavebird controller because of the flip up door.

Hopefully I'm wrong, the new controller isn't ridiculous, and the Gamecube plugs are just so you can use your Donkey Kong drums and Mario DDR pad.

edit: I forgot about the GBA link cable, that make sense then.  Ok, maybe the controller will be sane after all.

Because inflation should not and will not ever apply to gaming? ;)

A couple videos
It looks much better in motion, the screens alone are kind of plain.  How long as it been since the last 2d Mario platformer?

[*]The DS dual screens are pretty unnecessary, but it is kind of neat that when you go down a pipe, you move down into the bottom screen.
[*]Mario jumps for a flagpole at the end of the first video
[*]It sure looks like 2 player co-op, anyone know for sure?
[*]All the classic elements are there, fire flowers, flying turtles, pipe plants[/list]
Old style 2d gameplay with 3d animated characters, with Animal Crossing and Advance Wars, I'm starting to actually want a DS!

I know, think of it as a 3dMark demo for your console system.  Sure, it's not an actual game, but it gives you an idea of what game visuals the system will be able to produce.  If it were prerendered, it would be equivalent to the opening video of World of Warcraft, very pretty, but not being generated by your computer processor/vid card.

When something is prerendered, you're basically watching a video, a cutscene.  You could have the worst video card in the world, but Pixar movies will still look amazing on your computer because it's all pre-rendered.

In the original Final Fantasy VII, you see a very detailed prerendered cutscene, and when you switch to the actual gameplay you have a way lower polygon count, way less detail, because its now being rendered in real time.

In that FFVII tech demo for the PS3, if they wanted to, they could pause the video at any scene and move the camera around wherever they wanted.  Not possible with a prerendered cutscene.

The press conference is available at Gamespot now if you want to try watching it without Buffering...23% every 10 seconds.

I'll end up with all of them, but one or two I'll wait for a price drop on.

My stream is choppy as, uh...something really really choppy.  I see him whip out a Gameboy Micro, then 2 to 1 something.  What's 2 to 1?

This deserves its own thread, honestly, just watch it:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=5841&type=mov

Have they given any hints about how strong a PC you'll need for this?

After hearing the Nintendo Revolution will let you download and play nearly every Nintendo title ever, "from Donkey Kong to Mario Sunshine," they now almost certainly will get my money, especially if their price point is significantly less than the 360 and PS3, which seems likely to me.

Microsoft and Sony will have to fight it out to see who's my day 1 purchase, and who I wait for a pricedrop for.

[that also will have downloadable versions of nearly every nintendo game-- from arcade classic Donkey Kong through current titles such as Mario Sunshine.]

Revolution will offer broadband access to a free internet based player matching service, similar to Xbox Live, that also will have downloadable versions of nearly every nintendo game-- from arcade classic Donkey Kong through current titles such as Mario Sunshine.[/b] (Nintendo hasn't decided whether downloading will be free).

 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:
That is awesome.  I can't see them offering it for free, but even so, what a great feature.

It looks pretty cool, and it's amazing how small it is, but I'm not sure I understand what the point of having a removable stand is.  Why would you ever need to seperate your console from the console holder?
pic of the stand

Oh, and Bullwinkle, I think you might just be redeemed:

I liked it and all but I kind of expect pre rendered cut scenes from Square to loko great.

Except that it wasn't pre-rendered, that was real time!

from Gamespot:
"One of the more impressive aspects of the Sony press conference was the appearance of a so-called Final Fantasy VII "Technical Demo for PS3," a recreation of the original CGI intro for Final Fantasy VII rerendered in real-time for the PS3 hardware."

 :shock:  :shock:

Is this it?



From this USA Today article

Now that backwards compatibility seems to be confirmed, I'm thinking XBox 360 all the way.

Didn't they say backwards compatibility would only be for their "top titles" that they determine, and not the entire Xbox 1 library?

[1:31:09 Mobile Suit Gundam]

:shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Wow, forget the controller, I just watched the PS3 press conference and the game demos at the end are just amazing.

Go to Gamespot's live coverage site, and check out the PS3 conference link on the right side, under the initial streaming video.  Start watching at about 1 hour 29 minutes in.

Lots of impressive shots, but these were my favorites:
1:31:09 Mobile Suit Gundam - If the gameplay is as cool as this video, I could see myself buying the system for this game alone.  I don't know anything about Gundam, but those were some nice looking giant fighting robots.
1:33:17 Killzone - The still shots don't do it justice, this game looks incredible in motion.  There's so much going on at once, it really comes alive as a full battlefield.
1:44:40 Motor Storm- HO. LEE. CRAP.  Rally cars vs. motocross bikes vs. Humvees  vs. ATVs, kicking mud onto each other's windshields, smashing into each other, getting mangled...  Words and screenshots won't do this any justice.  If you watch nothing else for the PS3, watch this video.  Wow.

It's too bad the hideous controller is getting the spotlight, because wow, Motor Storm.  Did I mention Motor Storm?

Is there anyplace to stream this for free besides the xbox.com feed?  The download is so choppy, it's like watching it at 1 frame per 5-10 seconds.

No, not confirmed, hopefully there are some analog triggers on the underside.  Actually, that would make sense, the shoulder buttons you can see in that pic would be R1/L1, the analog triggers would be R2/L2. Here's hoping.

My favorite game pic so far (Warhawk)

OK, I'll bite. What's wrong with it? Maybe it's really comfortable. The PS2 controller is the best one I've held. I'd bet they wouldn't put out anything half-baked on the market when the time comes.

People are bashing it because it looks silly, but that's not the only reason it's stupid.  It's the same layout as the dual shock controller!  Why is the d-pad taking up the left-thumb's must comfortable position instead of an analog stick?  The shoulder buttons look like the same old stupid pressure sensitive type, IMO the Dreamcast/Gamecube/Xbox analog shoulder triggers are hands down a better design.

"CHANG3"  as in...the exact same button/analog stick layout as the dual shock controller, yeah...

Hide the children, do not look directly at the ugly:



The PSP was just so very good looking, they had to balance it out with some hideousness so the space/time continuum wouldn't rip itself apart.

Oh dear:

alternate link

This just in: Microsoft knew of Sony's plan for a convex design, and made the "Xbox 360's design is inspired by the image of an inhale" comment just so they could say the PS3 design 'blows'.  Sony retorted by saying the 360 'sucks' in comparison.  More on this story as it unfolds.

Yeah, that sucker's curved on the bottom too.  Are they going to make me buy a stand to prop it up horizontally?

It's flat on one side.

horizontal but I don't think the guy's bandwidth is gonna hold out.  My biggest hesitation about wholeheartedly saying it's legit is the Spiderman font.

alternate horizontal url

and the back side

Man, if that's the PS3 (and I have serious doubts that it is, given how early it is), then I'm right out.  No way I'm setting up a system vertically in my setup, and that sure doesn't look like it's made to be set down flat.

Again, it's probably a fake, but still.

There's another pic of it horizontally, I'll try to find it again.

The side of it makes me feel strangely compelled to see a certain superhero movie...