Anyone into video games on here?

[xvszero]

If so... what platforms and games have you been playing / anticipating lately?

I finally finished Ninja Gaiden on PS3, I'm playing Mega Man 9 and Art Style Orbient on Wii. Bangai-O Spirits, Trauma Center 2, and Lock's Quest on DS.

Bioshock and LittleBigPlanet next week! Dead Space looks pretty sweet. And I want to get World of Goo on Wii, that looks insane.

(I apologize if this is an inappropriate thread for this forum, it seems like a "general" forum to me and someone did make a post about bikes...)

[Dok]

I rarely play games but I enjoyed Call Of Duty 4 immensely.

Just tried out Rainbox Six: Vegas 2...don't go near it it sucks...the graphics are years behind and the multiplayer part is full of bugs.

I play games on my workstation...I would be really cool if more games would support multiple monitors. Would love to utililize my dual 24'' wide for some games. Any suggestions for that?

[xvszero]

You know, I never really got into PC gaming, despite being a computer science major and big into web programming and the likes. A part of it is I never even had my own PC until lately, but beyond that I'm kind of more into Japanese style games and they never had much presence on PC.

It's cool that PC-centric genres are starting to move to the consoles and handhelds though. I love a good strategy game.

[Dok]

I like consoles for doing console things...but I can't imagine playing a FPS without a mouse? How could one ever be fast enough with a game controller?

I just saw the new trailer for Heavy Rain for PS3 - the graphics are mind blowing - first time I've really seen the console beat PC's when it comes to graphics. It's gonna be hard keeping up with the 8 core PS3 on any PC...even in the future...so I might just buy a PS3...it could easily double as a mini-super computer for number crunching :)

[skywalker2208]

I own a PS3 and a Wii, but don't really have the time for it with work and family stuff.

[Shorts]

Used to play a decent amount, no time any more.

Whenever I need a mental break from coding I'll usually play chess online at ICC or play Day of Defeat (not Source, hate DoD:S).

[xvszero]

I like consoles for doing console things...but I can't imagine playing a FPS without a mouse? How could one ever be fast enough with a game controller?

This is one of the neverending arguments... console fans like the comfort of sitting in a big puffy chair and a 47 inch TV, PC fans like the faster response of the mouse. Personally it is tough for me to comment since I have never really played FPS on PC, but I definitely struggle a bit with dual analog on consoles (then again I don't play many console FPS either.)

The Wii has kind of offered a "better" console FPS aiming solution with point and click shooting, but it is more limited in turning quickly and the likes. Also the Wii doesn't really have the quality FPS to back up this control scheme... it worked awesome in Metroid Prime 3 but that's more an adventure/FPS hybrid, and has no multiplayer.

[FourCourtJester]

I'm still a diehard Halo fan, working on my General status (highest rank). Too bad I can only play once a week on my group gaming nites with friends.

DS right now, just finished up most of my ongoing games. Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Hotel Dusk, Advance Wars...

I used to play WoW, but not so much anymore. Just not enough hours in a day...

[Shorts]

I do love Halo. Reason I bought an XBOX360 was Halo 3 and GTAIV. But its been months since I've played either. Was working on my rank for a bit online in Halo 3 but it started taking over other aspects of my life. One of my friends is a 47 (out of 50), which isn't that crazy except for the fact he only has 1 arm.

On DS I have Final Fantasy 1-6 and all the original Zeldas. Now that I think about it I had preordered the Phantom Hour Glass but never went and picked it up...

WoW and all MMORPGs scare me. Afraid they'll take over.

[scragar]

I used to be a massive gaming fanatic, now not so much, I only keep my disgaea avi around because I'd have no idea what to replace it with, I havn't even turned my PS2 on for almost a year, and I don't game on my PC much, maybe a couple of hours a week at most(when I was in high school I used to be up till the wee hours playing on the good old PSX, those where the days, final fantasy 8, a cool drink, and 14 hours till you need to be at school the next morning :p -- needless to say I used to sleep during dinner, during the afternoon break(1 morning break = 10 mins, lunch = 40 mins, afternoon break = 30 mins), but I survived, and got to complete games before anyone else :p)

[xvszero]

DS right now, just finished up most of my ongoing games. Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Hotel Dusk, Advance Wars...

You sound like my type of gamer. Those are 3 of my favorite DS games (well 4, including both AW.) Actually I just wrote an article on my site about 10 3rd parties every Nintendo fan should know and Level 5 (Layton) and Cing (Hotel Dusk) were on the list.

[Watts]

Myst series, Timujin, Dark Side of Moon, Journey Man Project, Last Express... (I'm not coordinated enough to last very long in shoot 'em ups.) In DSOM I sat in the casino and played black jack far longer than was necessary to see if they'd kick me out or if the game would crash. Nothing much really happened tho...

[Dok]

I remember when we had to set up some of our first network games. We played Doom2 and Command & Conquer on null modem cable - a max. of two players :) Later we moved on to 10MBit Coax...and those damn terminators always got lost. But when it worked we could be as much as 4 players playing Doom2 in my old room for entire weekends...I can still move around to the keyboard and place my fingers on the default doom controls :)

Those were NOT the days...network is fortunately much easier to setup now :)

[Shorts]

I used to be a big fan of Commander & Conquer: Red Alert. Used to play online quite a bit, was good at it as well. Also loved WC2 and 3 but not as good online, Starcraft was decent at (Humans all the way!).

[rhsunderground]

i've been working on dr. mario for gameboy (the original gray brick) for about a year. i got through easy and medium pretty quickly. i got the first 15 levels of hard after that and then 16, 17, and 18 slowed me down. i was stuck on 19 for a couple months and i'm still working on the last level...

[Yelgnidroc]

Quake series for me. Quake 4 is fantastic now I've got a 22" widescreen and decent graphics card. Doom III a let down so far, but it might get better as I go along.

Use the PC, don't have time or will (or chance of success) to fight the wife for the 40" TV to hook up a console to.

Also like Backgammon on pogo.com but usually too busy to wait for a game.

[Stephen Philbin]

I used to play games a lot, but I don't really have the time these days. There also seems to be a growing trend to make games more and more idiot-proof to boost sales too.

Always been a console gamer, though. Don't really see the point in PC games (despite Dave's arguments to the contrary.)

[xvszero]

There also seems to be a growing trend to make games more and more idiot-proof to boost sales too.

This is certainly true. Everyone is blaming the Wii but its been going on for years now. I still think Halo co-op is one of the most casual games I have ever played... regenerating shields, unlimited lives, spawning right by your teammate when you die... it's nearly impossible to not keep moving forward. A friend of mine theorizes it is because games have become more and more like movies, and no one wants movies that they get stuck on and can't see the end of.

Still, if you want a challenge there are still out there. Ikaruga... oh man. Who would have thought a 5 stage shooter could be so damn impossible? The ONLY reason I saw the end of that game was after getting your ass kicked over and over and over they eventually feel sorry for you and unlock unlimited lives for you... which you will need.

[Stephen Philbin]

My theory is based more around the fact that lots of people that play games rate a game based on two things: grapical effects and how good they think they are at the game. It seems that the younger the player, the more likely they are to fit the pattern. I used to play online a lot and it was almost always the same old story. The online games would have ranking systems whereby your rating almost always constantly went up and single player games where they were actually much easier than they appear to be.

I hear the same things from both friends and people I'd play with in games online. Either they'd do badly and say the game was crap (regardless of whether or not it was actually crap), or they'd do very well and say they liked the game. Countless times, I've seen high praise for a game turn into a sea of expletives very quickly once the difficulty gets upped.

The makers of games caught on to this and have been dumbing games down ever since. They know better than anyone that eye-candy + low difficuly = high sales. You get the odd glimmer of quality that shines through occasionally, but most it the stuff that comes out these days is just mindless drivel.

[potterd64]

I love talking about video games.

I would disagree that most of the stuff coming out today is mindless drivel. It just feels like that because there is so much more out there compared to 10-15 years ago. There are still plenty of high quality challenging games coming out every year that don't just rely on good graphics.

The discussion really depends on the genre though. When I think of the challenging games of old, the main genre I think of is platformers. These games could be challenging in a good way (mega man, contra), or challening in a bad way (watch some angry video game nerd reviews). While games of this difficulty aren't as common anymore, there are still some very challenging games out there (Devil May Cry) that have challenging gameplay without the frustrating elements of the older games (running out of continues, no saving, etc)

Sure there are instances of FPS games becoming more simple over time, but there is still more variety among FPS games than back in the Doom days. If Halo is too casual then play Unreal Tournament. If you want the craziest shooting experience there is you can play Serious Sam. If you want a more stealthy FPS play Deus Ex (not sure what the latest stealthy fps game is). If you want open world FPS you have Far Cry.

The way I see it, games are just getting better and better!

[xvszero]

Hmm, but Devil May Cry had the frustration of a camera you had to fight with to tell what was going on.

I don't think games are getting worse or anything, but there is definitely a bigger push towards casual-friendly gaming. Which usually means making games easier.

[potterd64]

oh and yeah Ikaruga is pretty damn hard and awesome!

My favorite shooter is still Raiden dx but...

Ever tried Einhander? Its not Ikaruga hard but its a pretty awesome shooter (made by Square for ps1).

Alien soldier is a pretty cool older game made by Treasure which you can download for the Wii. It's also pretty hard and filled with tons of crazy bosses, (actually it's pretty much only boss fights).

Another great treasure game which brings the 2 color ikaruga gameplay to sidescrolling platform/shooters is silhouette mirage for ps1. Again made by Treasure.
Treasure makes some great games.

[xvszero]

Yeah I have Einhander. I pretty much buy a ton of 2D SHMUPs which is weird because I rarely get more than a few stages into any of them. Though part of that is because most of them require you to start from the beginning once you run out of lives, and I can only do that so many times before I get sick of playing the same stages over and over just to possibly get to a point where I may be able to progress further.

Actually I only own like 3 or 4 PS1 games, because I never had a PS1. I play them on my PS2. Also have Castlevania SOTN... erm... Resident Evil 2... not many others. I want to find Xenogears but I hear it might be coming to PSN so it might not be worth the huge Ebay prices if I can just download it for $10 or whatever.

I also buy a ton of Treasure games. Semi-recently... Ikaruga GC, Astro Boy GBA, Gunstar Super Heroes GBA, Gradius V PS2, Bangai-O Spirits DS, Gunstar Heroes VC, Sin & Punishment VC (such an amazing game!) Definitely one of my favorite developers to keep an eye on... and now Sin & Punishment 2 is coming to the Wii!

[Shorts]

Xenogears is one of my favorites of all time. Was a very interesting story.

Currently trying to play Fable II, yet too busy to game. Nintendo DS is rocking FF1-6.

Greatest game of all time though has got to be Mario Tennis for N64. Was such a blast playing 2v2. Other great ones, Golden Eye, Perfect Dark, FIFA94, NHL94/97, and Toejam & Earl. NES had Super Dodge Ball and River City Ransom. More awesomeness.