COMMENT ON GAMES YOU RECENTLY PURCHASED TO SPARK DISCUSSION!

[bonesquad]

That's a lotta games... SH2 is the best.

My gaming has suffered, and only sees to get worse. Alas after acting like a bitch for almost the past year, I think my PS2 has passed away. It's not good when you hear a humming sound when you turn it on and nothing else, at least I don't think it's good... Sigh. Not sure what to do. Maybe I can convince a certain someone to get a new one so I can kick his ass at Madden again... Let's move on. I'll work on it more latter and keep my false sense of hope alive thank you very much.

Paper Mario! 9/9/9 Game of the Month in EGM! I was hoping it came out next week and not this coming week... but I'll have to find ways to play it.

If it didn't seem like Xbox 2 was coming out next year I'd get an Xbox, but is it worth it now? I do know a neighbor I can mooch playing Halo 2 off of anyways...

Bah! I have enough to get with PM2, MP2, PoP2, VJ2 and I'm sure some other 2s... I have an inkling to get Pikmin 2 for some stupid reason...

[Hybrid]

Today I walked up to the 2 month old pikmin 2 demo that some kid was playing, blew my wistle at roughly 12 white pikmin, tossed them all at an onion and immediately wanted the game. Im thinking this can be a birthday gift since there's no real time for it right now.

PS2s just keep on dying. I got an email today with a survey asking how often I use my PS2 to play DVDs and if it was an important option for when I bought the system. Sony trying to find a way to help all the people it screwed? Nah, probably concerning their blue ray technology in PS3 and whether or not they should put in a dvd drive.

With Xbox at $150, Id say it is worth buying. Though it depends what you buy for it. Might I suggest Ninja Gaiden and Panzer Dragoon, my personal favories for the console? Other than that...Halo or something I guess. Xbox 2 may not be backwards compatible so it's good to catch up on a few choice games before their next iterations come out.

[ConnDestn]

I bought Rainbow six for xbox for $19.99 cause i like the strategy shooter games especially online, and I finnaly got Dragon Warrior 7 for psx which ive been eyeing for like four years now cause it was marked down to $15. SUWEEEET.

p.s. Paper mario 2 tomorrow.

[bonesquad]

Speaking of Paper Mario, most places have given it good reviews (EGM: 9/9/9 Gold GotM, GS: 9.2), but for some reason Game Informer gave it low scores (like 6.5 or something). The following was posted on GI's boards explaining themselves:

[Hybrid]

Hmm, anyone else see the "hypocratic method" displayed in that paragraph? They review a game the way the general public might perceive it, but ultimately your personal preference makes you buy the game? But...I thought you were appealing to that preference! How are we supposed to know how a game is without honest opinions from the reviewers? Remember kiddies, the only 2 places with credible reviews are EGM and Gamespot. REMEMBER! Though I do like gamerankings.com to compare.

[torkworld]

Yeah I saw some kids playing the Pikmin 2 demo in Best Buy yesterday and it looked really fun. Guess that means my next 19.99 purchase will be Pikmin.

I also played a but of Tales and while it seems to be a good RPG, the cel-shading distracted me. I don't like it at all.

Paper Mario 2 was too slow-paced for my patience.

But...the crown jewel of that visit to Best Buy was Burnout 3 on Xbox. Damn damn DAAAAAAMN I want that game! I was getting turbo faster than I could burn it. The slow-mo's of when you cut people off are GREAT, you finally get recognition for pulling asshole moves on your opponents. It's a tragedy that I can't buy this game!

[Hybrid]

Yeah I got burnout 3 when it came out..played it for about a week and got something else. It sucks that so much came out around that time because it was really fun while it lasted.


Now on to the festivities. Paper Mario 2 is excellent and has actually surpassed my expectations. Why has it? Well for one thing, I have been avoiding as much of this and Metroid as I could this year. Hell, we had the demo in the store for a couple months and I only did a couple battles. Sometimes some kid would play and leave it on and I'd slowly walk up to it...then move my hand from the controller to the reset button.

Anyways, I LIKE the dialogue. I never trail off because it's entertaining to read. I'll admit despite loving Tales of Symphonia, the non-spoken parts sometimes bored me. Paper Mario and Superstar Saga both pulled off a fantastic narrative and always kept you on track with the story. Few RPGs can do this right without getting annoying. I guess Game Informer DID become annoyed with it, but I love it.

Concerning gameplay, the audience system is actually intuitive AND funny. I didn't realize gameplay had changed this much. I know other people got it so I'll stop here. If you have a cube you absolutely should buy this...unless you can't stand a good story with no vocals. (in which case you're a loser)

[bonesquad]

This game actually is pretty cool. I really wasn't expecting much. But I haven't played it much either yet. The control and gameplay is about the same but with 2 guys (like on opposite sides of a wall), but you know that already. There's more 'stats' at the end of the day, but I do find it odd that in a listing of various creatures/flowers you've seen, you can zoom in on it and then hit A to throw carrots at it. No clue what that's about...

Huh? Oh, I'm talking about Pikmin 2. They didn't have PM2 in yet yesterday, and since I didn't feel like leaving empty handed, cough. It might come in today, but they were thinking tomorrow. So I have 24 hours to beat P2... Like I have the time this week. Worst time for me to buy a game, let alone 2, oh well!


Oh yeah, Pikmin 2 doesn't have voices either! In the original it was okay because you were all alone writing in your log, but now you hear Sim-esque talk as you read what your ship says and such. I HATE READING FOR FUN!!!

[Hybrid]

Oh god then dont even buy Paper Mario. There is a lot of text...and I enjoy almost all of it. Sometimes it goes on a little too long but most of the time I am completely enthralled, even if Mario himself is sleeping at the time...

[bonesquad]

Well, I was joking, sort of.

Before I move onto PM2, quick things on Pikmin for those that care (ie no one).

For the most part this game is the same as the first, even most the enimies are. A few changes (Yellow Pikmin are different) and a few additions don't change a lot. Except for one thing: caves. When you find a hole, you grab an army of Pikmin and jump in (bring a lot cause you're stuck with what you start with). They are several levels deep, and you can't go back till you're done (well you can give up but you lose everything). There seems to be a boss at the end of everyone too. I like this idea, but I've spent half my time in these so far, and they can get tedious destroying enemy after enemy, and they can take a long time since time doesn't pass down there... (god bless procrastination...)

At least the number of days limit is gone. You can just spend a day exploring or growing Pikmin and not worry, but this also means you really don't have to worry and redo a day to perform better (ie it seems it won't be too hard of a game). Plus so far having two characters (Olimar and Louie) adds as much as 2 chars in MKDD, ie not much. You can save time spitting up, but no puzzles or anything has taken advantge of it... yet. I'm only a quarter in or so, and havn't even tried the 2plr mode.

Okay enough... for now./

[Hybrid]

Well, would you say it's better than the first? I remember having a really good time (and a really hard time on the last boss) with the original. Gamespot seemed to think it's better than the first and boy do I love collecting stuff. There must be at least a few novelty Nintendo items in there.

[bonesquad]

Is Pikmin 2 better than the original? I'd say, yes.

What was the original's biggest failing? It was too short. That seems to be fixed. The main game itself seems like it will take a lot longer, though again most of that additional time will be spent in caves. (I have 5000 of the 10000 dollars I need and I've played at least 8 hours... plus I don't think 10000 is the very end anyways...) I think this game is best played in small spurts where you can enjoy it. Not in a 2 hour spread going through an entire cave swearing every time you reach a new floor that isn't the "Final Floor"... (It does save at every level in the cave though). More time in the overworld and less in caves (and maybe more puzzles ala the last level in P1) and I think I'd like it a lot more, but it's still good stuff.

As for collecting stuff, well at this rate I'm sure there is well over 100 items to find. Some are boring (like screws), but some are kinda cool...


I'm one of those annal freaks that hates to leave things unfinished... but I FINALLY got my copy of Paper Mario (the thousand year door!) today so I'm switching gears for now. Maybe later I'll be able to rationally discuss PM2 with the rest of you. Oh wait, well, Hybrid at least.

[Hybrid]

It's 3:35 AM and I just finished the new Mrbot strip so....

PAPER MARIO IS SO GOOOOD!

[bonesquad]

Yes, Mr. Bot kicks ass, err I mean Paper Mario does. Well, both. Mr. Bot has the edge though since this new strip isn't a rehash of the old comic...


Anyways, question on PM2. I'm fighting my way up the "wrestling" circuit in chapter 3. After I was ranked like 7th, a piece of cake was left for me by Julene (or so I was told). While I had no intenstions of eating it (heard lots of bad rumors...), I made the mistake of leaving the room to go save before attempting to pick it up. And when I got back, someone had eaten it! Should I be concerned? Do I need it even though I wasn't going to eat it? Just a simple yes/no since I don't want too much given away. (I have an old save I can go back to.)

[Hybrid]

An old save? Do they allow that? Well I guess you could copy stuff.

This MAY be considered a spoiler but you get cake from someone at some point, I forget when, and it isn't important to the story that time. Now there's a second time that...well, just eat it. I didn't so I dont know what happens. Although you DO find out who ate the cake if you dont eat it.



Another week, another game. Tomorrow I pick up a new game. If you saw my last post then you know what that is. For those not in the know (EVERYONE ELSE) Kirby has a new power called "smash" that gives him all his moves from Smash bros. I have the rom for the Japanese version but after one session I figured I would just buy it so I havent touched it since. Roms are like cds you download cuz you don't want to buy them! Speaking of cds, but actually pertaining to physically aquiring one, new Jimmy Eat World comes out tomorrow too! I hope it's a little less Bleed American and a little more Clarity...but I won't get my hopes up.