RCmodeler

You know, PS2 achieved what Nintendo did not: It appeals to all ages: - If you want hardcore violence, there's plenty of M-rated titles. - If you want adult games without gore, there are tons of PG-rated games like Final Fantasy or Ratchet & Clank. - And if you want games for your kids, you can buy neutral games like Dance Dance Revolution or cartoon-themed games from Disney. Square left Nintendo because they were tired of the heavy-handed censorship (re-writing FF stories, replacing blood with sweat in Mortal Kombat, et cetera). I suspect many other developers left for the same reason. If Nintendo wants to succeed next generation, they need to stop the censorship and allow ALL types of games from kids to adults to hardcore.

If I was RockStar, I would not change a thing. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that racist presentations (such as anti-Jew slander in Schindler's List & other WW2 films) are protected by the U.S. Constitution. If I was RockStar, I'd tell the Haitians and Columbians and Cubans and whoever else gets offended, "Please don't buy our game." Vote with your wallet.

I know nothing of the game. Why does it remind you of R&C?

I've been looking for awhile now to find a platformer equal in perfection to Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. It wasn't Mario Sunshine (yawn). Nor was it Jak & Daxter (better but still too slow). Today I found it: Rachet & Clank! This game is perfection. The graphics are outstanding to view. The music is a joy to experience just like Mario's and Banjo's music. And the gameplay is rapid-paced with the constant smashing of boxes and enemies. Even the story is strong (Mario's weakness). Never a dull moment. I love this game! I love the sci-fi setting, the characters, the story, the gameplay... it's perfection!

Yeah, if programmers were more efficient, we could go back to a Commodore=64 with only 16 colors and 8-bit sound. Who needs picture-quality graphics or CD-quality surround sound? Damn those programmers for constantly improving the quality of games and business software! Sure Resident Evil 2 looked like crap when they squeezed it into 64 megabytes of cartridge, but it was good enough damn it! Screw ultra-realism! /end sarcasm Higher quality video and sound = More data = more room needed for storage. I disagree with the notion that programmers should squeeze all that info into a 700 megabyte CD and compromise quality when they can use a 17 gigabyte DVD. Let them use the technology that is available to them. Same applies to PS2 savecards. On one hand, 3D icons are wasteful of memory. On the other hand, when you have 8 megabytes that can hold hundreds of saves, why not add a little pizazz to the icons? I see no harm.

Good point. On the PS1 a game could fit in only 8K of space. Now they probably use that much space just for the 3D polygon icon. On the other hand, I've had my PS2 for over a year, and I still have half a card left (~4000 K). So, why bother to save space?

For some strange reason, I'm fascinated by the images used for saved game data. Here are my favorites: PLAYSTATION 1/2 DEVIL MAY CRY - A woman dressed like a Harley hooker BALDURS GATE - A medusa-like head MDK2 - The professor SW:RACER REVENGE - droid ECCO - dolphin FF10-2 - a bouncing blue magic moogle JAK - Daxter standing/tapping his foot impatiently! NASCAR HEAT - A cool car TEKKEN TAG - A cute, bouncy girl ina blue costume KINGDOM HEARTS - A cool spinning logo of Donald/Goofy ICO - A shadow of Ico running <> - A burning image of Soul Edge/skull DDR KONAMIX - A spinning green CD. FF6 SYSTEM FILE - a green duckling GAMECUBE: ...uh... well, none of them. XBOX: don't own this system So, what are your favorites?

That was just one week. The *total* sales has the Cube ~1 million units behind the Box. As for variety, I hven't turned on my Cube since April (when I beat Wind Waker). The PS2 just has more variety to keep me coming back: DDR Grand Theft More RPGs than I can afford to buy Tons of 2D & 3D Fighters The Cube is sorely lacking in the above areas. Anyway, the original poster asked for opinions, and I provided mine. I'm not interested in sitting here and debating with you. It's just a waste of time. Oh, and to re-iterate: If you want to SAVE MONEY, the PS2 has tons of games in the $10-20 range... much cheaper than the Cube discs.

. Just buy a PS2, and then use the backward-compatibility.

I haven't played Megamax X. How is that game an RPG?

Because the Cube is dead last in U.S. sales. The Cube is a nice system, but it has a severe lack of variety. It has nothing like Dance Dance Revolution. No Grand Theft Auto (or equivalent). Almost no RPGs or Fighters. The Cube offers very little variety. If you prefer variety like I do, the PS2 is the way to go, because almost every game has been ported to it. You own a PS2, and there's no genre you can not get. And for price, you can't beat the PS2's $10-$20 greatest hits line. (donning shield against those who hate me because I prefer the popular systems - Atari 2600, NES, SNES, PS1/2 - for my gaming)

Ehhh... I'd rather have none of the extras for $99.

I like both equally fighting styles. FF10-2 is basically just an active time battle like FF4-9 were. STORY: FF10 is better. But FF10-2 is good too, since it shows the "aftermath" of Sin.

Good point. Metroid Prime is good if you only play a little at a time. But if you play a game straight through (like I do) then it gets monotonous. At hour 20, I was bored with the game and I wanted to fight the final boss, but I was just burned out. To me, MP is like Final Fantasy without story. No breaks in the random battles would quickly get boring IMHO.

Must... buy... now. It comes with 30 Activision games! Cool!!! Question: Will this USB stick work with Stella and MAME? What's really cool is the red color. My old yellow trimmed stick wore off, so I took some of my mom's red nail polish and re-colored it. It looked *exactly* like that! (jumps up and down like a ditzy cheerleader)

Inflation has been minimal in the United States for the past 15 years. The dollar is about 1/3rd as strong as it was in 1979. I have an old JCPenney catalog where wingtip Florsheims cost $29. The same brand today costs $100. Inflation may have been "minimal" but over 25 years it adds up. So I'm not surprised they charge 50 cents. However, I have my doubts they'll get it. The Ms.Pac-Man machine in my local arcade charges 25 cents, because no one's willing to pay more. As for the $2000 cost, that sounds way too steep. I could probably put Space Invaders on a ROM or FPGA for $10-20. Add a cabinet and joystick, and it's probably ~$100 max. Obviously Taito is over-charging (like those classic arcade collections on CD).

Is that the Super Nintendo version?

Fakes are okay with me. I just like the way they look... doesn't matter to me if they were made in 1983 or 2003.

Well... (looks around) (runs away) ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! But seriously, I have not played Crypts, so can not really make a definitive decision. However, you are talking to a guy who thinks Legend of Zelda is NOT a role-playing game. I'm very anal-retentive about the distinction between Adventure and Role-Playing games. Zelda is not an RPG in my humble opinion, and neither are most of the titles listed on this thread. They fall into the same category as Pitfall... adventure.

Sounds cool. Do you have to have a GBA? Can it be played solo?

Eternal Darkness is a puzzle game... just like Resident Evil... and so it is heavily scripted. It's like an interactive horror movie. Still, I played through it THREE TIMES (20 hours total). So, clearly it was above-average. There's just something cool about a game where your character: - goes insane and kills off everyone in the house... - turns into a walking, rotting, dead zombie... - gets decapitated and gushes blood out all over the floor... - is instantly smashed by the enemy into the consistency of pizza... And the story is superb. A little demented, maybe even Satanic, but still superb. It even gave me nightmares! I loved it! I sold the game, but now I'm regretting it, and I will probably buy it back.

Just curious... didn't see any on ebay.

I feel exactly the same way about Commodore=64 SID music. I load my SID emulator at work, and I'm instantly transported to the 80's. The sound is so distinctive. ATARI: My favorite sound is the thermonuclear blast when you lose Missile Command. Awesome!

Technically ALL games have an ending. You either run out of time (Pitfall) or you run out of lives (Space Invaders). I think the original poster meant a game that can be BEATEN. i.e. Nothing more to do... you reached the goal, saved the princess... sell the cartridge on ebay. Pitfall 2 qualifies. Marble Madness. E.T. Raiders of the Lost Ark. I love the 5200 version of Pitfall. When you beat the game (rescue your cat, niece, and the ring), Harry is magically transported to a SECOND adventure. Genius. This is the version that should be put on Activision Anthology.

By that definition, PAC-MAN is an RPG. Sorry, no. Crypts is an adventure game like... Adventure. RPG's had been available on old PC's .... PCs are not consoles. You know that Adrian. As for this Dragonstomper... I have not even heard of it. When was it released? Who made it? Besides Strength and Dexterity, what other stats did the character have? Does the Dragon have stats?