Video Games...Discuss Them

[Lasse]

New Monkey Island games confirmed. One is a remake of the first one, and the other one is a completely new game.

Can't wait.

[D_Davis]

What's the different approach?

The city is an open world, and as you traverse through it you have to fight your way to each of the missing ODST members. Once you find them, you play a flashback level revealing what happened to them. It's a great concept.

[D_Davis]

Pre-Microsoft, Bungie made its way by being creative in different genres of games, setting trends rather than just rehashing Halo after Halo after Halo.

Bungie created Halo. If anyone is to be blamed for Halo's less than stellar tale (but the gameplay more than makes up for it), it's Bungie, not MS.

Sounds like the ramblings of a Mac fan to me, saddened that the platform lost it's best game developer to "the enemy." As if somehow Apple isn't also into making as much money as humanly possible. No, that is a trait that belongs solely to the MS Corporation,

[Mara]

I got Sims 3 and have been playing it quite a bit. Overall, it's better than the previous one, although there are certain parts I don't like quite as much.

First, the graphics are far better, which makes it less creepy. (It's inching out of the uncanny valley.) The attributes you can give to the Sims make more sense and are far, far more fun than before. Just for kicks, I made a Sim who was an insane kleptomaniac evil something something else, and she was a riot to play. If I ignored her for a few minutes, I'd find her eating out of the trash can or sneaking up and scaring the crap out of her housemates. She'd talk to herself and bathe in the kitchen sink.

The Sims also seem somewhat less stupid than before. They know, for instance, that even though they are lacking in both "fun" and "food," that it's best not to starve to death while playing video games.

I know they made a number of improvements on how much you can customize your Sims and the environs, but I don't actually care about that too much. If I want something original or fun-looking, I'm far more likely to download someone else's work from the site than spend hours making a girl's skin blue.

Really, the best part of the new game is how easily you can travel in the town. In the previous game it was a huge production to leave the house, and you had to make sure everyone had eaten and peed or they would get to where they were going and then just complain. The load times were also slow and annoying. In the new game, the Sims can zip around quickly (and they don't all need to be in the same location at any given time.) They can wander from the park to the library, and there are public bathrooms and eating establishments.

There are two main drawbacks to the new game. First, the directions are unclear and often counterintuitive. It took me several hours of game play to figure out how to move the "camera" frame when I'm not actually looking at my Sim. And in trying to get them to move house, I frankly gave up and googled it. But once I figure out how to do what I want to do, the game ran smoothly.

Secondly, it seems like the game has removed some of the sillier aspects of the last game, like having pimped-out Vegas-hooker-hotel hot tubs and insane party game machines. Okay, it's nice to be serious in the game sometimes, but if all we want is for our game to mimic real life, why would we play a video game? In the last game, you could cash in your happiness points for crazy things like teleportation pads and money trees. Now you can cash them in for an ability to never having to pee. Which is more unsettling than useful.

All in all, I'm having a good time with it. Playing God is fun. (MWAHAHAHAHA.)

[D_Davis]

That sounds cool Mara. I'm thinking of picking it up for my wife and I to play. Hopefully it will run on her laptop. We always had fun playing the Sims games together.

Although right now my wife is super excited for the next Tropico game.

[Mara]

The cracked boys are using the Sims to conduct evil Nazi experiments: http://www.cracked.com/blog/explorin...th-the-sims-3/

[Spun Lepton]

If Sims 3 ever gets to the Playstation 3, I'll probably pick it up. My computer is not a gaming computer any more -- way out-of-date. I had a lot of fun with the first two.

[monolith94]

Bungie created Halo. If anyone is to be blamed for Halo's less than stellar tale (but the gameplay more than makes up for it), it's Bungie, not MS.

True. However, I believe that the blame can be squarely placed on Microsoft's shoulders that the Bungie team were subsequently limited to only making Halo sequels. Admittedly, the gameplay was pretty good, but the move to MSFT marked a distinct transition, away from experimentation and storytelling into more of a focus on making sure-hit X-box 360 exclusives.

Sounds like the ramblings of a Mac fan to me, saddened that the platform lost it's best game developer to "the enemy." As if somehow Apple isn't also into making as much money as humanly possible. No, that is a trait that belongs solely to the MS Corporation,

Bungie developed games for the PC too, you know. Everything that I said could've been said by a computer gamer who played games on both computers. I don't think it's fair to use my taste for Apple products against me like this: it's a strawman argument. The fact is, the nature of Bungie changed when they lost their independence, and now they seem to be getting it back. I don't see how anything that you've argued could call this basic hypothesis into question. Facts are facts: Bungie used to have interesting characters, like the Deceiver, Tycho, and Durandal. Even Oni had more flavor to her than master chief. Now they just have gameplay, and that gradual loss of flavor… how can that be anything but a bad thing?

Also, I do not take "ramblings" as an insult. Ramblings can be very productive. Even though it's supposed to put me down because the phrase sounds similar to "ramblings of a madman."

[Amnesiac]

I know the trailers for The Last Guardian have already been posted, but really... wow. This looks like it has some serious potential. Some amazingly elegiac, eerie, arresting visuals.

[Skitch]

THATS impressive!

I got Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast and Mario Golf today. $10 total.

[D_Davis]

That game is going to make me cry, because it can only end 1 of 2 ways. Either the boy will die, or the creature will die.

Either way will be sad.

[number8]

That game is going to make me cry, because it can only end 1 of 2 ways. Either the boy will die, or the creature will die.

Either way will be sad.

Yes, D, we all read Penny Arcade.



:P

[Ivan Drago]

I would be playing The Sims 3 on my Macbook Pro right now...if my computer were updated to the newest version of Leopard. Does anyone know how to do that?

[number8]

Are you asking how to do Leopard updates or are you asking how you can get Leopard without buying it?

[Ezee E]

Ghostbusters next week!

[Ivan Drago]

Are you asking how to do Leopard updates or are you asking how you can get Leopard without buying it?

How to do Leopard updates. If it's possible.

[number8]

How to do Leopard updates. If it's possible.

Menu -> Apple -> Software Update.

[KK2.0]

Since i've got the PS3 i've been paitiently waiting to watch what Team ICO would accomplish on the system, and i'm not disappointed.

Someone should make a more realistic med kit for an action game one of these days. As in, if you get small injuries you can patch yourself up wih a first aid kit, but for big injuries you must call an ambulance to fix you up. Also, you have to pay your medical insurance after every level, or else the ambulance won't come next time.

it reminded me of the hilarious first aid maneuvers at Left 4 Dead.

[Ivan Drago]

Menu -> Apple -> Software Update.

I've tried that many times and I'm not getting it. I'm only getting updates for Safari and some other programs, neither of them mention Leopard. Now it keeps telling me that my software is up to date.

[KK2.0]

Holy fucking hell guys, Uncharted 2 looks unreal!

http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_11258_en.html

direct-feed baby http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_11587_en.html

[number8]

I've tried that many times and I'm not getting it. I'm only getting updates for Safari and some other programs, neither of them mention Leopard. Now it keeps telling me that my software is up to date.

What version does it say you're on?

[monolith94]

I'm on 10.4.11, btw.

[KK2.0]

I can't get into online shooters, fortunately i've rented Killzone 2 before blind buying it. The single player experience is too short and the multiplayer, well, it's solid enough but i just can't find myself wasting much time with it, i really dislike the repetitive nature of these online games.

[Ivan Drago]

What version does it say you're on?

Same as Monolith, 10.4.11.

[number8]

Same as Monolith, 10.4.11.

Oy. Then you're on Tiger, not Leopard. That's the latest version of Tiger. :P

I'm on 10.5.7.