Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Now We're Talking


Here are some posts within the last day or two, plenty of stuff to discuss here.
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Anonymous poster on Halo 3 - "Actually, I do enjoy Halo 3. I'm just saying it's not all that different from Halo 2. Just updated to the 360 with a few new maps (not enough), and a few cool weapons and items. For us PC gamers, we would classify that as a "mod". It's a GOOD mod. Don't get me wrong." -ub3n00b
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Of course it's not all that different from Halo 2. It was such a massive success, could you imagine the fallout if Bungie strayed from the formula and provided a different game. Their huge, loyal following would have been livid and just went back to playing Halo 2. To me, they had no choice but to update the graphics, add some new weapons and maps and do a "mod" of the game. I liked Halo 2, so I'm fine with it. As for the story being not as compelling as Halo 1 I disagree. Only because it's basically the exact same story as the previous 2- stop the covenent and flood (they just added the save cortona bit). The backlash gamers have with Halo 3 is mostly from gamers who didn't fall in love with Halo 1 or 2 and are upset that this game is "stealing" attention from other game's they find more interesting. And to be honest I don't blame them too much, as it is a valid point. Personally I love the game- so I don't mind.
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Well played sir, well played. With the exception of this poster's angle on the Halo 3 story line being just as compelling as previous games, I couldn't agree more. Again, Bungie did the right thing, it gave Halo fans exactly what they wanted. As for the haters? Most of the Halo 3 hate that's been slung out there seems to come from gamers who aren't huge fans of the series but are getting into it late, OR, maybe its coming from those PC gamers who get sick of how much love H3 is getting and that nobody talks PC anymore. I honestly don't know one Halo fan who has been with the series from the start that hasn't liked Halo 3. There are sure to be exceptions, but I haven't met any.
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John on PGR4, CoD4 and PC/Console play - That's a good point about PGR4. I played the demo the day it came out. I enjoyed it and figured I would buy the game whenever it came out. Then later that same day I'm at Wal-mart and PGR4 is on the shelf. I'm like what. Sure enough, the game was released something like 5 days before the demo came out? Is that correct? The first time I've heard or read anything about PGR4 was in May's edition of XBOX Magazine. The next thing I know, the game is out. I may have seen a commercial or two. All of a sudden it's on the shelf. Ok then. My next concern is COD 4. I've played the MP beta on the 360 and the SP demo on the PC. Right now, I'm leaning to playing the game solely on the 360 and this is coming from a long time hardcore PC gamer. Simply enough, it just has more of a console feel to me. RB6 Vegas was the same way. I play that on the console and not on the PC though I own both. I think alot of the deal is competition. With a brand new PC game, everyone that wants to compete has got to have a PC with decent specs. On a 360 game...well you just need the 360, and some skills.
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To be honest, I never play demos unless its for an XBLA title and I'm bored. So I never pay attention to the time between the demo is out and the game is released. Poor PGR4, a very solid game but not nearly as great as its predecessor, had a horrible release date. Why so close to Halo 3 when you know everyone with a 360 is going to be playing it? MS should have pushed the date back to late October so gamers could get that initial H3 rush out of their systems. Just plain stupid. Not a great way to treat one of (if not the) best game the 360 had at launch.
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As for CoD4, I'm certainly looking forward to it, but not nearly as much as Mass Effect. Strangely enough your comparison to Rainbow 6 Vegas makes it even slightly less of a must-have. Not because R6V wasn't a great game, it certainly was, but if CoD4 is just like it, I'm not sure how into a game I'd be if I played something like it before. That and I really need a break from shooters. You mentioned how the PC beta version of CoD4 played a lot like a console. I can't really speak to that since I don't play too many PC games (perhaps Eli could address this) but maybe this is the start of a gaming trend. I'm sure PC gamers are hoping its not.
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Eli on a bunch of things - Did you hear that the movie industry is blaming Halo 3 for the downward spike (some 27%) of ticket sales? Funny stuff. Check it out at GameSpot at http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25983621
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Broncos suck. The Rockies are an amazing story. Even more glad I live here to see it (even though I'm not a true blue fan, still cheering for them). Cool story. Greater accomplishment.
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This weekend I played demos for: Unreal Tournament 3 and Time Shift. Haven't gotten around to the CoD4 demo yet. All I can say is - MY EYES ARE BURNING! I'm a huge Unreal fan, and UT3 is absolutely amazing. Halo? Please. THIS is the King of online shooters. ALL HAIL THE KING! Time Shift looks like it will be fun. GORGEOUS demo. If you're into MMOs... Tabula Rasa is really fun. Launch was pushed back a few weeks, but they're on target. Oh, and the City of Heroes Halloween event is coming up in a few weeks. Always fun!Ya know what I was thinking? Does anyone remember Bioshock? I know... it just came out (2 months ago). I'm being facetious. But remember all that hype? Does anyone remember it? It's truly amazing how short the world's attention span is (and getting worse). MORE MORE MORE. NEXT EXT NEXT. Sickening.
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Yes the Broncos suck (the Rams suck much worse however), I hate to admit it but they do. My 7-year old daughter could run for 100 yards against that sieve-like defense. Its just depressing. The Rockies? Absolutely unreal. I'm a Red Sox fan so I really don't watch many of the games but what they are doing is flat out amazing. Its hard not too root for them, and if the Sox end up losing to Cleveland, I certainly will be.
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Eli cracks me up with his Halo 3 hate, I've never seen a bigger H3 hater in my life. The guy wouldn't say one good thing about the game even if I gave him $100. I think he got fired from Bungie or something. UT3 is the king of online shooters? Maybe for you but the stats for Halo say otherwise...There were demos of Tabula Rasa and Time Shift at E3 and they really did look amazing but I just can't get into MMO's, they're just too much work...
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...Do I remember Bioshock? Of course! Absolutely fantastic game, loved it. Does anybody else? Sadly no. I couldn't agree more with your take on the gaming industry's short term memory. Everybody involved in gaming, and I do mean everyone (publishers, developers, gamers, stores, etc.) are all about what's coming next. It seems like no one ever takes the time to truly enjoy a game anymore. Bioshock came out in August and its already yesterday's news. Is it because there are so many games coming out its hard to keep track of them all? Is it because the gaming mags pump up a new game every month and forget about everything before it? Is it because publishers and developers put out a game and forget about it and just move right on to the next one? Or is it because that's how people are with EVERYTHING now, whether its games, TV shows, technology, news, etc. I think its a combination of all of those things, but mostly the last one. We are now a nation of instant history and short term memory. I believe the great philosopher Janet Jackson said it best, "What have you done for me lately?"
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2 comments:

Ub3rn00b said...

Oh no...I was not trying to say that CoD 4 is exactly like RB6 Vegas. My only point was that both games, to me, had more of a console first person shooter feel to them than a PC feel. I might feel different about this once the full version comes out on the PC and I can play MP online with it. I know already that the 360 version MP is great fun. In RB6 Vegas, there isn't that need to whip around and snipe people. The way the maps are set up and the way attacks are coordinated allow for people to take their time and the action is quite a bit slower than some PC first person shooters such as the UT series, COD series, etc. Halo is another good example. Not the best in the way of PC games. But great on console.

Terry Terrones said...

Allow me to retort

"The Rams starting QB, RB, 2 WRs and 3 of the 5 starting O-linemen are hurt and/or out for the season. And that's just on Offense"...blah, blah blah. Who cares? Just like a Rams fan to make excuses. Your team sucks, the reason doesn't matter.

"Your gaming ignorance is startling. Of course Halo will have higher stats dofus boy. Halo 3 is complete. UT3 is a beta demo. Plus, stats are easier to track on k0nz01es, there's only one "server" per say. UT3 doesn't use a Hitlerain "pay for usage" online service. It's free. It's always been free for PC gaming"...I know its a demo, but that won't matter. The number for H3 will blow your precious UT3 out of the water. How can it be king of something when only a fraction of the people will use it compared to Halo 3. As usual, your missing the point. And I may pay $50 a year for XBL (actually I don't, they send me free cards every year) but at least I don't have to drop a few hundred bucks every year to update my PC so it can run these "free online" games.

"Time Shift isn't an MMO"...I didn't say it was, I said I saw it at E3 and it looked great, my comment about MMO's was unrelated. My bag for not writing a clear enough sentence.

"I gave the original Halo a glowing 9 out of 10 score (officially, in public - it was one of my first reviews for GameDaily) AND this article about how video gaming is on the rise with kids, and that PC gaming is their choice should rattle the foundations of k0nz013 folks everywhere: http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/
feature/?id=17790"...once again you're site dropping for your corporate master

"PC games are "too much work" for lowly k0nz0l3 gamers to grasp. And THAT'S the reason why there will always be a rift between the groups - PC gamers are smarter then k0nz013 gamers. Period. End of story. Game over. Thanks for playing. Move along. Nothing to see here"...Wow! Once again your elitist PC gamer snobbery rears its ugly head. PC gamers aren't smarter, they're just more rude and obnoxious. Aside from politicians, I've never seen a more dogmatic group of people than PC gamers. You guys would fight a console gamer over the color of the sky because you're always right. A caustic, holier than thou response from a PC gamer? Never expected that.

Must be nice to sit on your PC throne and make judgements from on high. I, the lowly console gamer, bow down to your all-encompassing knowledge on PC AND console games despite the fact that you are a self admitted PC lover who doesn't even own a console. Your lack of tolerance is inspiring.