Gabriel

I don't understand the appeal of the clear consoles and peripherals. To me, they just look cheap or imcomplete. At best they look garish. I've always liked black and silver for consoles, probably a side effect of owning an Atari 5200 way back when. But my Atari 5200 wasn't packaged with a pillow.

Ya know, I bought and watched Shogun recently. Would sleeping with this promotional item count as "pillowing"?

I saw this the other day. I guess I'm a sad, sad soul, because I kinda wanted one. I'd prefer Helena on mine though. Mmmmmm. Helena.

I now own an Intellivision again, and I also have a whole hell of a lot more games for this one than I ever had for the old one. (My old one was an Intellivision II. The new one is an original Intellivision.) One thing I've noticed since I blundered into the classic gaming "scene" is that a lot of venom is directed towards the Coleco produced games. A good portion of this badmouthing is directed toward the Intellivision ports. Mostly, Donkey Kong is berated. But, I've also seen mention that Venture sucks badly as well. My "new" Inty came with Venture and the notorious Donkey Kong. I quickly decided I wanted to see these games. First off, I really like the Venture port. It has the "rotting" effect of the corpses which is missing from the 2600 and Coleco versions. It has the music which is missing from the 2600 version. It seems to play fairly well. I've already burned quite a bit of time with my new Inty just playing Venture. Why does this game get a bad rep? Then there's Donkey Kong. While it isn't particularly good, it also isn't quite as horrible as I had been led to believe. There is a distinct lack of variety of color. The game also only has 2 (ugly) levels. Kong is a brownish blob without any detail. "Mario" is only slightly better with a two tone color job. But, the game plays at least as faithfully to the arcade as the 2600 version does, and actually quite a bit better on the rivet level. So, Donkey Kong is pretty bad. But compare it to Mattel produced crap like Sharp Shot or Triple Action. And Donkey Kong may look only slightly better than an Atari 2600 game, but Pitfall on the Inty shares the same problem. Actually, the Inty version of Pitfall looks exactly the same as the 2600 version. In fact, I found myself enjoying the Inty Donkey Kong more than Inty Pitfall. I owned my first Intellivision late. I don't think I got it until 1987 or so, and I didn't ever have many games for it. Then, of course, there's the horrible "emulation" discs available for the PS1 and PS2, which help color the Inty as worse than it really is. And, I'm probably much more prone to forgive bad graphics in classic games nowadays than I was back in 1982-83. Maybe I'm completely off base. So, does anyone else agree with me, or am I just a looney? Oh, and Beauty and the Beast is pretty cool. It's like a platforming "zoner".

Edit: Since I see myself doing a fair amount of trading here, I changed my post to an easier to read list. Here are the folks I've had good dealings with: Starscream videotwit jerseydevil

I'm a big fan of Shining Force. I own Shining Force 1, Shining Force 2, and Shining Force CD (which is a compilation of the Game Gear games). I used to own the US Shining Force 3, but I gave it to a friend when I no longer had a Saturn. IMO, Shining Force CD is the best, followed closely by Shining Force 1. I didn't like the exploration elements or random battles in Shining Force 2. And Shining Force 3 didn't have very fun missions. Plus, while the friend-system was neat, I felt the implementation could have been a lot better. Overall, SF2 and 3 just added things that diluted the game and degraded the fun factor. The fact that SF3 was incomplete as far as the US was concerned certainly didn't help either. There are other semi-related games to Shining Force. They are: Shining in the Darkness (Genesis) = An old school corridor whomper like the classic Wizardry or Bard's Tale games. It has only a slight console RPG style twist to it. Shining and the Holy Ark (Saturn) = In a similar style to Shining in the Darkness, the old school corridor whomper gets a console RPG remake. This time the console RPG stylings are a bit more pronounced. Shining Soul (GBA) = YAZSG or Yet Another Zelda Style Game. Supposedly theses games are all set in the same world. They do all have a similar style about them.

I have discovered that Space Dungeon rocks! If I had known the game was as cool as it is, I would have begged much harder for someone to buy it for me back in the day. What's a decent score? I got 178,000 or so during a quick game at lunch today.

Because we all know that IGN is the most objective source out there. I'm interested in exactly two of the games on that entire list. The only reasons I'm interested in the new Starfox game is because I read some time ago that the Ace Combat team was working on it. However, if there are levels where you walk around with those goddamn stupid animals, then forget it. I was already afraid it would get the Miyamoto taint just like the godawful Starfox 64, but it has to be tainted by the even worse Starfox Adventures! That leaves Tales of Symphonia, fourth game in the "Tales of" series. Unfortunately, I've just found out thanks to your cut and paste that it uses damnable cel-shaded graphics ("unique" my ass). Since I absolutely despise cel shaded graphics , I will not be looking forward to nor purchasing Tales of Symphonia. So, that leaves zero out of 20. That's a whole lot to be looking forward to. If it weren't for Soul Calibur 2, that list would make me want to throw the Gamecube in the trash.

...well the companies seem to be getting in on it http://www.polygonmag.com/news/index.php?id=1582 Lots of third parties supposedly jumped on the 32X bandwagon too.

Steel Battallion is kind of a current day litmus test of whether you are a "gamer" or "collector". There is no doubt that this title will rise wildly in price, a frenzy fueled by a segment of gamers just like "Square-loonies". I played the game when I visited a friend from the long gone days of school. He's a mech freak, and bought the game as soon as he could. Personally, I felt it sufferred from the typical mech curse, a curse which says, "All mecha video games are required to suck, by commandment of GOD!" But the collector and gamer in me are struggling. On the one hand, I want the nifty controller. It's KEWL! I'd love to have the bragging rights to own something that an obsessive segment of gamers is paying hundreds of dollars more on eBay than it initially cost to acquire. But, on the other hand, the game isn't even remotely fun to play, so why would I want to pay $250 for it? The gamer in me doesn't give a rat's ass about the game, and realizes the controller (cool as it is) has no utility outside of it's dedicated game.

I got my copy of the Greatest Hits edition of Xenogears today. I figured that I might as well get a copy for possible future interest. But, I had to order my copy online. It doesn't seem any stores are actually stocking this title. Has anyone actually seen this one or the Greatest Hits printing of Vagrant Story in a store? I've seen the rereleases of Final Fantasy Anthology and Chronicles, but, oddly, not Vagrant Story or Xenogears. And I definitely don't expect to see the titles pop up in Game Stop's or Game Crazy's inventory. Both of those places make too much money selling used copies of Xenogears to Square loonies for $50.

As people familiar with Nintendo's history know, the fact the press release is direct from Nintendo only INCREASES the probability this is vaporware. The only thing that doesn't sit right about it is the timing. Nintendo has historically timed these announcements to attempt to steal the thunder of competing products. This announcement is too late to steal the thunder of the initial Sony PSP announcement. And the other "competitors" (N-Gage and Zodiac) aren't even blips on the radar. Plus, this hardware doesn't even remotely sound impressive or even particularly worthwhile (except for the bit about memory which is just really out there). So, about the only reasoning as to why this MIGHT be real upcoming hardware is that it is pretty amazingly stupid. But, in the end, time will tell.

I call "VAPOR" on this one. If it is true, then it's almost a certainty that Nintendo wants a repeat of the Virtual Boy.

I pre-order a bit, although, I admit, most of the time it's pointless. I've noticed it comes in handy with RPGs, especially Game Boy Advance RPGs. I pre-ordered Lufia for the GBA. The store didn't get very many copies, and its pretty hard to find for a recent game. I pre-ordered Fire Emblem for the GBA. The store ordered exactly ONE copy, mine. I haven't seen another copy anywhere. I pre-ordered RPG Maker II for the PS2. It turned out to be a POS, but I haven't seen it for sale anywhere else. I pre-ordered Time Crisis 3. Pretty much all the Namco Guncon games are hard to find if you don't buy them the day of release. But sometimes I pre-order something that isn't too hard to get hold of later. Soul Calibur II was a good example of that. I did get the cool art book and art print, though. I pre-ordered several copies of Final Fantasy Origins, expecting it to be difficult to get hold of. As most people know, it is incredibly easy to find even months after release.

I've been through several X-Boxes. I think I'm on my 3rd or 4th. I had to use my service plan so often, I lost count. Basically the console just stops working. Sometimes I would get the screen that says the X-Box is broken and to take it in for service. Other times I'd just get a black screen and a shrill buzzing sound. The pattern is simple. Just one day the X-Box decides it won't work anymore at all. I'm completely surprised my current one has stayed functional as long as it has. But, I'm sure it will die sooner or later. Since I don't have a service plan anymore (It expired last August), it will be expensive to replace the console. I don't think I'll bother if it comes to that. Everytime I took my X-Box in, the employees would give me the basic quiz and size me up to see if I was trying to scam them. They'd check the serial number on the box, and then they'd admit the X-Box was a cheap piece of shit and just hand me a new one after recording the serial number on it. The last time I had to use my service plan the employee was the loose-lipped kind. He said they had a really high percentage of the consoles returned compared to what they sold. He also admitted that he was amazed that I had a service plan on one, because the employees were instructed to NOT, under any circumstances, sell a service plan with the X-Box because of how unreliable the console was. Considering my experiences, I don't think he was just trying to suck up.

Maybe your xbox was protecting you from a bad film? It was $5 and it manages to have at least that much entertainment value.

Unlike most on this thread, I've had frequent DVD compatibility problems with the X-Box. I think that out of my library of DVDs there are 6-10 that WILL NOT play on the X-Box. The main one I remember off the top of my head is Carrie 2. When the X-Box fails to work with a DVD there are two options, it either doesn't recognize the disc as a valid one, or it repeats a scene indefinitely. On the other hand, the X-Box has a nifty zoom feature. That's about the only thing it has going over the PS2 in terms of DVD playback. The PS2 has failed to properly play precisely 2 DVDs that I've seen. The first one is a anime DVD from Pioneer named Moldiver. The second is the well known Tron Special Edition disc (which is an inconvenience more than anything else). Picture quality is slightly better on the X-Box. I've also been through several X-Boxes, because they keep on breaking down in various ways. I don't have much faith in the console. But I don't use my consoles for DVD playback much anymore. I have a dedicated 5 disc changer for that.

Update. I had an answer by Friday evening. This was in response to my resending of the order on Wednesday. Today (Saturday), I confirmed the order and things seem to be rolling along smoothly. Apparently, my first e-mail disappeared. Anyway, things seem to be OK now and, hopefully, I'll have some new games soon.

What's the point of the internet if not to rant and rave over pointless things? I did go off on a tangent, but the gist of everything is this: 1) Console manufactures tend to do things just to be different with no regards to whether doing things different is conductive to the function of the device. The X, circle, triangle, square thing on the PS1 and PS2 controllers could be an example of this. 2) Most people remember shapes and colors easier than letters (don't ask me why). Perhaps this could actually be a case of trying to make the buttons easier to remember. Take your pick. Obviously, I think it is number 1. But, I also think that Sony is doing less screwing up a good thing than the other console manufacturers of the past 15 years have been doing.

Hell yeah!

I apologize for the "sports gamers are illiterate" remark. What kinds of games you play doesn't necessarily make you dumber or more intelligent than anyone else. A recent event at the game shop drove the thought of the sub-human nature of sports video game enthusiasts firmly into my mind. I should have known better than to allow that event to drive me to make sweeping generalizations. I do ask for forgiveness. As for my other remarks, I stand by them. The NES controllers are what they are partly because of the desire to sell the console in America, and because it had to not look like a videogame console. And later, the N64 controllers were demoed well before the console was completed. Nintendo was constantly touting the "revolutionary" nature of these controllers in the early N64 press releases to the exclusion of talking about the console itself. It is on record somewhere that the N64 controllers were nothing more than an attraction grabbing gimmick. Who cared if they worked? It's all form over function. Regarding the X-Box controllers, it was such a good original design that Microsoft has all but discontinued the model because of the mass outpouring of complaints because of just how shitty it was. Unfortunately, I don't make a habit of recording everywhere I read something, nor do I keep such records for years at a time. I suppose that invalidates my remarks as mere speculation. But, I imagine someone keeps records of all this stuff, so you should be able to find these things out if you dig into the history of the marketing of the various game systems.

Doubtless, one of the main reasons for the shapes instead of letters is because Sony wanted to be different. This is nothing new. The NES pads are the pieces of shit they are because Nintendo didn't want them to look like a game controller. They wanted them to look like a TV remote. The same thing happened with the N64 pad. Nintendo designed an absolute cluster fuck of a worthless controller because they wanted the unique shape and features to attract attention for the unspectacular N64 console. In fact, the controllers were demoed before Nintendo had a finished console. And all this happened again with the GameCube. The Saturn analog pad became as unwieldy as it did because Sega went totally batfuck insane with the whole "Saturn" motif and wanted a controller that looked like a flying saucer. The original U.S. Saturn controller was also totally fucked because, you guessed it, Sega of America wanted to be different. While I like the Atari 5200 controllers, the entire reason for their existence is because Atari wanted to acquire patents over creating a good controller. And, then there is the most recent blunder. The X-Box had absolutely huge and unusable controllers because Microsoft wanted to emphasize "bigger is better" marketing. Being different is very important to console manufacturers. Be happy that Sony took the accidentally usable SNES controller design and improved on it. History shows the console manufacturers don't give a damn if the controllers work or not as long as they promote a certain "look". Another thing is that most people remember shapes much better than letters. Here in the U.S. it also panders the the illiterate and barely literate who buy all those sports games. Didn't the early Super Famicom have colored buttons instead of lettered ones? You'll also note that the PS1 shapes are color coded too. Most people remember colors easier than shapes.

Has anyone else had e-mail communications problems with 4Jays Classic Video Games? I sent an e-mail on Saturday to place an order and get a confirmation number. By yesterday, I was still waiting for a response. Yesterday evening (Wednesday) I sent another e-mail politely asking for a confirmation or rejection of the order. Now it's Thursday after 4Jay's business hours have ended for the night. I've done a ebay transaction with them and had a pleasant experience. I was looking forward to ordering some 5200 games.

The real question: Would the Apextreme make a nice, inexpensive box for emulators without all the hassle of the goddamn POS Dreamcast? Could I literally burn a plain CD of the MAME folder on my computer and pop it into the Apextreme and play? But to tell the truth, it looks like the Emerson Arcadia for the oughties.

OK. This is how I understand this rerelease so far. Nintendo releases the GBA-SP with a different color. Nintendo releases a line of carts with emulated NES titles on them, but, instead of several games on one cart, the games are 1 game per cart. To top it off, each game is $20. Let's see. NES Pac-Man on the GBA for $20 OR Pac-Man Collection with several Pac games for $15. I'll take Pac-Man Collection, thank you very much. And Donkey Kong is going to be $20 for the same old NES port which is missing the level? Super Mario Bros is being released as a new title AGAIN? And this time on a cart by itself? Isn't there a semi-recent cart with Super Mario 1 and 2 on it for the same price? Legend of Zelda is going to cost as much on the GBA as was charged for a compilation disc of the entire Zelda series on the GameCube? If I'm understanding this correctly, Nintendo has once again flipped the gaming community the bird.