kisrael

Agree with most of the pro-GC sentiment here. It's been a very solid lineup. Interesting that the original poster didn't talk about multiplayer, where Nintendo has been shining ever since the N64. And actually, of all the games I'd consider getting rid of, Metroid is surprisingly way up there. Very enjoyable, but so big and linear that I can't see myself coming back to it all that often, except maybe once years from now.

The Dualshock 2 has 255 levels of pressure sensitivity per button or d-pad direction. The L3/R3 and start/select buttons do not have this feature. It must be enabled in software and the controller properly configured (again in software) for these buttons to properly work. 4 pressure ranges can be configured. It's a very complex low level protocol. Electrically the buttons are very responsive and linear. Most games don't use them to their max capability and hence what some consider poor performance. Thanks for the clear technical details. Is it always easy to tell an original dual shock from a dual shock 2, by looking at it? Anyway, I don't think the buttons are very well implemented. There's just not enough room for the button to move, so an attempt to press lightly might not trigger anything, an attempt to mash down might hurt your hand. And it makes the buttons a bit harder to fully hold down, I think contributing to fatigue in games like GTA:VC. My opinion of this controller has gone down. It's the most unergonomic thing out there, its only redeeming feature is in games that need side by side joysticks of equal importance, ala Robotron....

Sorry; despite my disappointment in an originally clever idea but exploited to death Army Men series, I don't wish anyone in this industry (or any other) poorly. I don't know enough about Trip Hawkins' history to dislike him; I respect him for starting Electronic Arts and making its golden years w/ Archon, Pinball Construction Set, MULE, etc (and advancing Activision's "programmer as celebrity" theme, and those cool record album like gameboxes) as well as the original idea of 3DO, trying to get a real game standard out there, like VCRs. Doomed to fail for many reasons but a nice idea.

But don't you all see that the real issue here is the lack of good, 4 player tank games on next gen systems??

Just read that 3DO is going away. Rats, I had secret hopes of a decent nextgen sequel to BattleTanx. (I bought a PS2 for "WDL: ThunderTanks". Thank goodnes there was GTA:VC to make the system worthwhile for me, don't know what the hell was wrong with ThunderTanks, but it just doesn't work. This is pathetic! All my hopes are with Titus' theoretical promise of "Tankers: Smoking Barrels". (Search and Destroy on PS2 was ok, I guess, especially for $10 new) Sigh, 3DO. A noble experiment with its console. At least we won't have to put up with any more crappy Army Men sequels.

Or better yet, one of those little cool mini analog sticks like the Pocket Neo Geo thing has....that would be cool for whatever comes next from Nintendo.

Well, it's pretty clear this is the one I'm all psyched about. It's not about the music (though i love the Emporer's March); it's all about putting yourself in the cockpit of the fighters of the movies you loved as a kid (which is why the Phantom Menace based one, while seemingly competent, and with a cool "director's commentary" soundtrack feature, never caught my attention enough to struggle through.) On the other hand, they say the 3rd person running around stuff is a bit spotty, and the footage bears that out, a little bit too much random dashing and shooting. But they promise a whole slew of "Wedge" based missions which will be star fighter based, as opposed to the "Luke" path that goes for those movie scenes.

Huh, so it must be NES=1, GB=2, SNES=3, GBA=4? Wonder if GC=5. Or if the fact it's "Prime" means it's "0" or some such crap? (Oh, wait, Prime's story happens just after the NES version? Never mind.) I do love the series (just got my picture taken with a lifesize Samus at a Frankfurt airport store, i should post that) even though Prime struck me as a bit linear. Still, it's getting more and more awkward to explain how she loses her powerups at the start of every dang game...

GC: fair enough, though I find that "haphazardness" useful for my fingers to remember one button from the other. It's a bit assymetrical, though; games that treat the little yellow stick as the equal partner of the main stick feel a little off. PS2: Yeah, not terrifically well positioned sticks. Also I'm confused; what's the difference between the PS1 and PS2 versions of the dualshock? And does the PS2 supposedly have "analog" buttons? Because they aren't very good if so; the shoulder buttons on the GC have much better feedback and range of motion...

(Reporting in from England!) I'm not sure if I get what you mean, about "whatever the hell you want to do"...N64 Rogue Squadron was entirely mission-centric, though you had some flexibility in what you did. I only played a little bit of the PS2 version, so I don't know if it was less flexible. On the other hand, only GameCube has the sequal that's a direct successor to the N64 version, the Rogue Leader series. It's generally better regarded than its StarFighter cousin, so chances are it's what you're looking for. It's a wonderful game, especially the Battle of Endor with its swarms of tiefighters. I'm way jonesing for Rogue Strike...

Hi from Germany! I'll not waste my precious internet cafe minutes arguing who got nasty first here. Anyway, I'm surprised you're so down on the gamecube controller. PS2 hurts, havent used xbox much, but GC is comfortable, with well placed and well differentiated buttons (one problem i have with PS2 is my fingers get the shoulder buttons all confused...) Do you like the xbox new or old controller? And glad to see you agree; all consoles have good and bad points.

Yeah thanks, though I actually saw that page....but I didn't see much about the release schedule, that it's Japan-only (for now), etc... I hope it makes it here...if it's a half decent game it should sell well, huge nostalgia factor. (I remember how hot and bothered some people got when "Game Informer" did a realistic looking mockup for a hypothetical transformers game that they didn't know was fake.) If they did port it, wonder if they'd get the original voice talent? Or at least a decent impersonatator. Also, wonder how they deal with the pre- and post-movie bots together...

Man, no offense but that sounds pretty thin-skinned. Which is too bad, becaue the Xbox does have a lot going for it. No one said "Nintendo is just the best by default", someone said "Nintendo always blows everybody away at E3." (which, oddly enough, doesn't seem to be true this year in particular.) Not really worse than "Microsoft and their X-Box is owning the E3", but no one ripped into that with "HAHA HAHA" etc. I think the case and the initial controllers are legitimate things to pick on on the X-box. I was responding to a very provocative "The reason you are getting so upset must be that deep down you know that Nintendo has really missed the boat somewhere along the way... but you just don't want to admit it." And then I go on to point out some of the good things X-box is doing! Did you miss that? And the whole Mario Kart > Ninja Gaiden thing was me correcting a possibly delibertate mis-spinning of what I said; I don't think Mario Kart DD holds up to Halo 2, but I think Rebel Strike does. I think you have really thin skin...even nonfans give the Xbox props for what it's doing on this thread. The attacks on Nintendo seem to be more emotional and "wah wah, you guys just like it because you've always liked it."

Yeah. In the comic, she always beat out the other two... I don't think they ever managed to trick her. The white spy is still my favorite. Any idea about that robot looking spy? Comic character, or new for the game?

No worries about the name. Mispelling it, and various geo-political overtones, are making me use "kirkjerk" for more purposes these days. And I'm probably shoving some karma from a different argument I was in here, where people were making compaints about games being too easy, and I think accessability to non-hardcore gamers is good Though the conclusion everyone could agree on are multiple difficulties are a good thing...

Why do you make 2 hours sound like a bad thing? Like I said, there are 3 settings of difficulty, and each harder setting adds a lot, sometimes the level is like twice as long. I think having easier levels that let a newbie get the feel for the breadth of the game, but optional difficulty settings that add the depth for the person who likes a challenge, and gives that person new things to see, is about ideal...

Oh, you wacky importer you. Bangai-O was great on DC though. Old school 2D action, but probably only a mid-90s system coulda put out so many cute little sprites. I have a FAQ at GamwFAQs for it, the only complete walkthrough.

Dunno quite what the appeal is...I don't think it's just the destruction...and I'm not usually the biggest fan of "figure it out" games. But this one just clicked for me, it was fun maninpulating the environment with the different vehicles i guess.

Maybe so but those screen shots sure do look sweet. You think? I thought they were pretty simple backgrounds. Which might be appropriate, given the source material. Similarly, low polygon count models work pretty well for the main guys. Still, nothing to drool over. Is that "robot spy" character in the magazine, or likely new to the game?

Yeah, as I'm sure too many people on the board can attest, 4 player onscreen multiplayer is my favorite genre, and why I'm such a Nintendo fanboy. Chu Chu Rocket is pretty good, but almost...I dunno, overstimulating? It's hard to get a grip on it when the torrents of mice come, and sometimes it seems to have a bit too much of an element of chance. or sometimes, one person is so much better at it, the other people get ticked and want to play something else.

I love Quake III. Except for the slow intiail setup (desperately needs a Quick Start)...it and Worms and Power Stone 2 and Rush 2009 or whatever it was are TERRIFIC 4 player games. Re: Space Channel 5- WAY too fussy about the timing.

I wonder if they could cram in the original Spy vs Spy games in there? Maybe even with the new graphics...should be pretty easy, actually. There's a chance this could just end up being a gimmicky FPS (Well, Third) with funny weapons.

I think that's Nintendo's last ace in the hole; no other console has a reliable first party game maker. I think the GC has some other advantages, good form factor, great controllers--but if it weren't for that, all the system would have going for it is Monkey Ball and Rogue Leader. For its main consoles, has Nintendo ever done a really bad game? I mean, I know many were disappointed were Luigi's Mansion, it wasn't a Mario and it was short, but still I thought it was well-polished, balanced, and fun.

I just found out that the N64 version of Conkers will be included in the Xbox version. It'll have upgraded graphics and extra cutscenes and levels that were not included on the N64. Too bad the acting was so so-so in that, reminded me of my fellow actors in middle school, sometimes a little bit too "self aware"/fourth wall breaking, because it was pretty funny in other ways. Some good music, especially on the lava surf level. Getting Rare was definately a big coup for Microsoft. Many of the "Best of N64" games I listed on the other thred were from them. Hopefully revamping Conker isn't a sign that their glory days are behind them...

Yes, it's an excellent game in both one player and multiplayer forms. It has a set of very cool one player missions, all set in different historical periods. (And the one player missions can also be played 2 player co-op, though I think that is in some ways more difficult...) Each level has Easy/Medium/Hard mode as well, and each setting seems to have more to do, not just throwing tougher baddies at you. So if you like things easy, you can pretty much see every level, and for the people who are into challenges, I think the hard levels are really difficult...beyond my ability/time I'm willing to sink into it, anyway. I had just as much fun one player with a series of challenges, different game types you can play to unlock extra characters, boards, and gamemodes in multiplayer. I'm not a big fan of having to play single player to unlock things in multi, but they do it pretty fairly. Those challenges are pick up and play fun, shorter than the story mode missions. Deathmatch is excellent as well. If only the PS2 version had come through with the rumored online play! I woulda bought it even though I already had it on GC. I think this was by the golden eye/perfect dark team, and it shows. Very high production values, some interesting character, variety of multiplayer, decent AI (I think), fun weapon sets. Oh, and there's even a "make your own level/mission" mode, which was fun to tool around with, but paled pretty quickly. A great game overall.