Rev. Rob

Halo and Mortal Kombat were awesome. I am going to say GTA3. This is the point where story telling really died and sandbox gaming took off. You know what? I got over playing in a sandbox when I was five.

I liked the big 300 page EGM and EGM2 mags.

I'm pretty sure it has bluetooth. Even if not, then Nokia sells a special data cable that goes from any of their phones to a PC. I have Nokia phones, including an N-Gage, and I have the cable and a bluetooth adapter for my PC. To do the transfers you need Nokia's software on your PC. It's called Nokia PC Suite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is33FDaqID0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5yyWZ2Z6Ps

Bad lighting, bad weapons, ridiculous enemies, being forced to spend half the game as the arbitrator, and the lack of open areas makes it a corridor crawler. Bleh. Oh, and the legendary mode in Halo 2 sucks. Halo 3 is the true spiritual successor to Halo. You just need to read a FAQs to bridge the story. Also, if you really don't plan to play Halo 3 then you may as well skip Halo 2, as it ends in a cliffhanger. You may as well just buy an Xbox 360 for Halo 3. Not. Even. Close.

I must not have had enough sleep when I wrote that. I meant "Pac-Man Battle Royale." That's the real title of the game.

Some pics from E3: http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w4/Zadoc_Paet/E3%202010/

It's not really an analog stick. It's more of a slider. In fact, that's what they called it when they were demoing it to me.

I hope you beat it on legendary. You should really skip Halo 2 and go straight to Halo 3. Halo 2 is horrible. I had myself convinced that it was a good game when it came out, but I know better now.

Pac-Man Vs. - Mini Review I love Pac-Man... and Ms. Pac-Man. Who doesn't, right? At E3 Bandai Namco were luring people to their booth with the promise of free Pac-Man lanyards. For those who've never been to an E3, free stuff that will last longer than the weekend is a big draw. However, Pac-Man Vs. is a game that stands on its own merit. According to the booth guy, it'll start appearing in on all three major consoles various consoles, and in arcades, that's right friends, it's a real coin-op, by the end of 2010. Sadly, it was the only coin-op at E3. I can go on about the decline of the arcade industry for a while longer, but let's talk about the gameplay. So, there are four simultaneous players, and five levels. The objective of the game is to be the last Pac standing. The mazes start out small and increase in size and complexity after each level. The mechanics are pretty familiar to anyone who's ever played Pac-Man, (or who was on Google recently). Here's the rundown: After all initial pellets are consumed, three power pellets will appear. Power pellets increase Pac-Man in size and make players immune to ghosts; they cannot be eaten. The twist is that any other player who doesn't have a power pellet is turned blue and can be eaten. Any two players of equal status who come into contact will crash into each other and be repelled in opposite directions. This is a great strategy for killing an opponent. They can be bumped into a ghost, or into another player who has a power pellet. There is no credit given for kills. A win is only achieved by being the last player left, so there's no harm done in helping one opponent kill another. The game is purely awesome and I expect most people who play it to fall in love. This is exactly what needs to be in every arcade, bar, school, restaurant, and living room in the country. E3 2010 Sonic the Hedgehog Wrap-up There were four Sonic games on display by Sega, a developer who I'll always have affection for, although it may be for purely nostalgic reasons anymore. They are Sonic Colors for both the Wii and the DS, the much anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and Sonic Adventure, the Dreamcast classic (and by far the best 3D Sonic game to date). I remember when Sonic Adventure first came out on 9.9.99 and many gamers, some of my friends included, complained that the game seems to play itself. I never really agreed with that sentiment. Now, if someone were to say that to me about Sonic Colors for the Wii, I wouldn't argue. It was literally impossible to die. Hold one direction, go that direction, the game plays for you. Which is a good thing, because the Matrix inspired cinematic camera angles change angle and distance so frequently that if you really were in control, you'd be totally dead within seconds. At several points I actually tried to jump off narrow paths that are suspended way up in the air. No such luck. Death is not allowed. Eventually I held down the direction and let it run without doing anything. I was doing very well until Sonic got stuck in a hole from which there was no way out. I hope they fix that before the final release. What I played of the DS version of Colors was good. Like previous releases on Nintendo handhelds, this is the closest to old school 16-bit Sonic action that we're going to get. It's too easy and there's no emphasis on exploring, but I felt the same about other recent 2D Sonic games and was still able to enjoy them. So let's get right down to it, Sonic the Hedgehog 4. It has "4" right in the title. This is the spiritual successor to the masterpiece that was Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles. It's a brilliant idea! Reboot the franchise with a great 2D game. After all, Sonic was born of only two dimensions, and since stepping into the third, he hasn't done well since his Dreamcast days. Sonic 4 was one of the first games I played. I, more than anyone, wanted this game to succeed - to be everything that the franchise used to be. As I waited to take the controls there was only one person in line in front of me. On the very first level I watched as he tried to jump up a series of moving blocks that are flanked by walls on either side. Over and over, and over again he biffs it. "What a n00b," I thought shaking my head with impatience. After all, how can anyone really fuck that up? What's this clown's problem? After eight or nine more attempts he finally gave up and it was my turn. I started from the beginning. At the loading screen players enjoy one of the original sprites of Sonic running in all of his Genesis glory. The game starts. The character sprites are too big, but I can get past that, it's no big deal. Sonic's spin animation is a perfect sphere instead of a furious oval. A pretty glaring oversight, but I can get past that too. But it didn't take me more than a minute to discover the fatal flaw that destroys this game, which is the same reason why the fellow in front of me couldn't perform a simple task like jumping on blocks. You see, unlike in every other 2D Sonic game where the trajectory of Sonic as he flies through the air can be controlled based on the angle of the jump, and Sonic continues on that trajectory unless acted upon by another force, such as a wall, enemy, or the player's will. Not so in Sonic 4. Oh no, in this game you have to continuously hold down the D-pad for Sonic to continue to jump or fall in the desired direction. This makes precision platforming impossible. If it weren't for the enemy target system that game uses then it would be unplayable. Let's talk about the target system. This is where when Sonic jumps while in the air, then he'll lock on to the nearest enemy, spring, or item and attack it. Where was this feature in Sonic 3? That's right, it wasn't freaking there. Sonic 3 had a much more innovative air jump system that performed different functions based on what shield you had (or didn't have). Targeting wasn't introduced until Sonic 3D Blast, and that's only because the game used isometric psudo-3D graphics, and it's difficult to perfectly nail a hit in 3D. It's even a welcome feature in Sonic Adventure, again because it's a 3D game. However, in 2D, it's not needed. It takes away from the whole Sonic experience. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is not successor to the numerically titled games that came before it. It's more closely related to the Sonic Rush games than anything else. It's Sega best effort in nine years to make a good Sonic game that's actually fun, but the control decisions prevent that aspiration from coming to fruition. Fellow Sonic fans, brace for yet another disappointment. At least they had Sonic Adventure at the show. I know it came out in the US in 1999. It's dated, but the frame rate has improved and the graphics have been cleaned up some. Out of the four games bearing the Sonic name at E3 this year, the Dreamcast launch title was by far the best of the bunch.

Also, the new Pacman Vs. game is totally awesome. Very fun!

Just got home - here are some quick impressions: Nintendo 3DS is full of win if people actual make non-gimmicky games for it. Playstation 3-3D is fail. It seems gimmicky and I'd much rather play without it. Playstation 3 move controller? Who gives a fuck? "This changes NOTHING." Wii - After spending a day playing all of the upcoming Wii games and having to use that shitty controller and looking at it's shitty graphics on HD monitors, I can truly say that I hate the Wii. No one should make real games for this thing that don't have fully graphically enabled "parent games" on the real game consoles. I played four different Sonic games, and the best one was Sonic Adventure which was originally released in 1999. The worst one, by far, is "Sonic 4," which is complete and utter bullshit, and plays and feels NOTHING like the OG Sonic games from which it takes its namesake. I have a lot more to say about this later. "Homefront" impressed the hell out of me. The game seamlessly integrates the story and plot into the game's action. It's not the standard FPS game play that'll make you want to play it, it's the awesome story from the creator of Red Dawn. This game is Day One. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5yyWZ2Z6Ps "Fable 3" brings back the fun from the first one that was cut from the second one. Most notably spells can ether be instant, a la "Fable 1," or they can be slowly charged up, a la "Fable 2." Oh, and the new "Castlevania" game is fun as hell. Edit: And I still hate LA. Glad we got out of there before they started lighting cars on fire.

How small a house is it if you don't have room for a Vectrex? desiv Right!? Seriously dude, you should keep it. But what games do you have? Some go for well over $80.

I busted out with Duck Hunt last week, and it seems I can't miss. I played for 20 mins, and I dont think it has and end. I ended up turning it off. I wish I was that god when I was a kid!

I just finally got here and there's only one day left, but I am an excited reverend. I haven't been to this gig in years!

Gamecube, really?

That screen also made it exceedingly expensive. (might have been smarter to offer a lower-end model with cheaper passive matrix screen like its contemporaries) You think that's expensive? You should see the prices on the PC-Engine LT (not the GT). It's a PCE that looks just like a GBA-SP. Fold out style. And the screen is bigger than the GT(Express). I think that thing was like $600 when it came out BITD (and goes for just as much and more nowadays). Wow, now that's sweet. I never even knew it existed.

You guys rock. I have a whole pile of DC games here that I haven't even played yet.

No. Unlike "Spawn #1," games are actually rare. That's why comics from the 40s and baseball cards from the 50s and 60s held their value. In good condition they're rare. Games have value based on a number of factors, including scarcity. The only ones that drop in value are ones that are inflated based on desirability. Consoles will hold their value too. There are less and less working NES and 2600 units every day. Even less that are CIB.

Her:

Without looking, here's my guess (no particular order): Donkey Kong Galaga or Space Invaders Pong Super Mario Bros. Doom Guitar Hero Wii Sports Madden NFL Football Super Mario 64 Tetris Edit: That article is total fail. I get that Ms. Pacman was and still is popular, and that it's awesome, but what did it really influence up until today? Nada. At least with Donkey Kong there are still platformers! Same goes for Metal Gear. What exactly did it influence other than Metal Gear sequels? Ridiculous. Also, any list without Tetris is just bad thinking. That defined handheld and puzzle gaming.

I just picked up the original FZ-1 and am not also a proud 3DO owner. They had one of each model used at Bookman's in Phoenix and they were $95 each when they first got their in February. I offered $60 for the FZ-1, and they told me that if I wanted to pay that much I should go to eBay. Bad service, but whatever, I still like them. Anyways, I go back there last weekend and all three are marked down to $65. I figure that's only $5 more than my original offer, so I took it. I have the following: Battle Chess - Because it's the only 3DO game they had in the store and I needed something to test it with Microcosm - Because they forgot to check the unit to see if it already had a game in it - lol Road Rash - Because I thought it looked awesome when I was a kid Shockwave - Because it came with Wing Commander III Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger - Because it's an awesome game Star Control II is next on my list. Any other suggestions? I do have one thing to say, I am extremely disappointed about the Road Rash soundtrack. I thought it was going to be all full of Soundgarden and grunge, but it's really generic during the gameplay. I knew the Saturn port was like that, but everyone told me that the 3DO had the real music in game. What a bummer. What's worse is that there aren't even full tracks. I have the free bonus CD, but they are chopped tracks. I can't believe that.

Ya, I concur that this is not really a color handheld. If this is color, then so is Vectrex, just sayin'. Super Micro is only "color" because of overlays. IIRC, TurboExpress had a better color screen than Lynx or Game Gear. I don't own one, so I am going off of memory.

Things have been heavy in the "real life" and such. But I assure you, I didn't run out of games, and I'm totally okay. I feel bad for dropping the ball on this. I should get right back on that!

I would you rather head to a page like Space Invaders for the 2600 that would have 10 variations on the same page to see, and if you have those similar variations, I would like to see pictures of what each of the variations looks like.