Entertainment/Gaming Consoles

[perth]

lost kingdoms is pretty sweet too. i was at babbages, and theyre taking preorders for starfox, mario sunshine, zelda and metroid. im really looking forward to all those games. i have to admit tho that im a bit disappointed with the current library of games. ive been thinking of picking up a ps2 tho, theres a bunch of games there that i want to play.

[Tobiasly]

My brother sent me <B>this link</B> to a review of the new Blaster Master they're releasing for Playstation. I've never even owned a Playstation but might get one so I can play this game.

The original Blaster Master was one of the best games for the NES. The detail was amazing, the game play was challenging and addictive, and the way that little jumping tank maneuvered was so realistic.

Man, I loved that game. Still have it, in fact, along with all the entire Mega Man series. Maybe it's time to hook up the ol' NES again.

[perth]

Maybe it's time to hook up the ol' NES again.

where did you find the inner strength to unhook it in the first place?

~james

[vsp]

I got my wife hooked on GTA3 this week.

There's something infinitely cool about watching your wife roam the streets of Staunton Island, shooting people at random, then letting the bystanders all run up and look at the bodies "so that I can get the rest all at once with one grenade."

(She doesn't have my animal-reflexes driving skills yet, though. Gotta work on that.)

[Tobiasly]

Originally posted by perth
where did you find the inner strength to unhook it in the first place?

Not so much "inner strength", as lack of additional inputs!

Time to buy another splitter I guess..

[vsp]

For what it's worth, Pelican makes one that simply rocks -- five inputs with push-button switching and full S-Video support, for twenty bucks.

I have one on both TVs in my apartment.

And I have 2 of them on 1 TV in my basement.

They have 'em at Wal*Mart. If you're having real trouble, email me and I'll pick one up for you. They have little nameplates for each system (GameCube, XBOX, PlayStation 2, PlayStation, DVD, Other, etc). Figure $20 + ~$5-6 shipping (they kinda heavy). They're nice. Seriously. If Wal*Mart near you doesn't have 'em, lemme know. I'll get you hooked up.

[Tobiasly]

C'mon, Dave.. some wimpy little $20 splitter? I'm disappointed in you.

This is a perfect excuse to buy a new $1500 THX-certified Dolby Digital receiver with a dozen inputs, if I've ever heard one. Thanks for the offer though.

[Cam]

I purchased Splinter Cell for my Xbox this weekend. The game is great. No mindless violence of any sort so far. It's a thinking man/womans game. It takes what made Metal Gear Solid a great game, took out the drawn out story line element added an amazing camera system and introduced some truly incredible lighting. I can't say I've played a game this difficult in a long time. If you have an Xbox I recommend at least renting it. It will drive you crazy, it's not an easy game.

Couple things going on in the gaming front...

First, I've bought a ton of games. And I've played a lot. And man, are some of 'em good. I'll get an updated list up here in the next few days.

Second, I brought my Sega Genesis and Nintendo Entertainment System home and hooked them up. I now have these consoles on my TV:

-NES
-Genesis
-PlayStation
-Nintendo 64
-Dreamcast
-PlayStation 2
-Xbox
-GameCube

I have been playing a lot of Super Mario Brothers 3, and I'm loving it just as much as I always have. Man it's a great game.

Third, I got a multitap for my PS2, as well as an extra controller. I've been playing GTA Vice City as well as Tekken Tag Tournament (only $20 now!) and I'm having a good time. PS2 is definitely a tight console, but I think I like my Cube more.

Fourth, I just won an auction for a Sega GameGear and 7 games on eBay. Including shipping and insurance, it came out to $31.50, which isn't too bad. I'd always wanted one, and now I'll have one. Weeee!

And finally, I sure do wish I had more time to just sit and play games.

[perth]

what, no SNES?

~james

[vsp]

GTA Vice is everything I expected it to be. I'm at around 90% complete right now, trying desperately to figure out which Unique Jump I'm missing. (You get the same slo-mo animation for "unique jump you've already gotten credit for" and "unique jump you haven't gotten credit for, but you didn't land exactly where you're supposed to land.")

I put Legaia 2 and Kingdom Hearts on my Xmas list as my next PS2 time-killers.

I'm considering Metroid Fusion for the wife's GBA as one of her Xmas gifts... that is, if I can pry HER away from GTA: Vice long enough. I am DYING to get my hands on a Flash Advance backup cartridge, so that I can put PocketNES on it and turn her GBA into the ultimate portable NES machine. Finding one has become increasingly difficult since Lik-Sang got beaten down by The Man, however.

I'm plowing through Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (as has been detailed elsewhere) and am having a blast; I'll probably pick up the expansion set for or after Xmas.

Nothing too much screaming at me on the PS2 release-date schedules. The Getaway (read as: GTA: Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels) should pop up next month, and should be worth a look. Star Ocean 3: Till The End Of Time is listed as a hopelessly optimistic February 2003. We'll see. Tenchu 3 is March.

[Cam]

I'm seriously considering investing in a gamecube when the new Zelda comes out. I've played every zelda on console besides Links adventure and the thought of not playing the new one is actually bothering me. I love that franchise.

I have Morrowind's main quest nearly completeled on my Xbox but my brother owns the game so I've been away for a long time, but I'm beating the game over X-mas, and hopefully getting splinter cell finished off.

[j03L10T]

I'm sticking with my playstation. Ever since the release of those awesome arcade collections, my gaming needs are pretty much satisfied. I've been tempted to purchase an actual used game machine, like the ones we used to have to fill with quarters or tokens just to play a game or two. But I figure why bother when I could custom build the cabinet myself to better accomodate the playstation and various controllers, television, a place to rest a drink and ash tray.

Not to knock any of the newer game systems, there is even a "crazy climber" available for PS1 in another arcade collection. I think that the Atari collections are the very best though I haven't actually purchased very many of the others. I wonder what Namco was thinking when they designed their crappy formats for pac man, galaga, etc. Ah well, at least they were finally available.

[vsp]

Originally posted by j03L10T
I'm sticking with my playstation. Ever since the release of those awesome arcade collections, my gaming needs are pretty much satisfied. I've been tempted to purchase an actual used game machine, like the ones we used to have to fill with quarters or tokens just to play a game or two. But I figure why bother when I could custom build the cabinet myself to better accomodate the playstation and various controllers, television, a place to rest a drink and ash tray.

Not to knock any of the newer game systems, there is even a "crazy climber" available for PS1 in another arcade collection. I think that the Atari collections are the very best though I haven't actually purchased very many of the others. I wonder what Namco was thinking when they designed their crappy formats for pac man, galaga, etc. Ah well, at least they were finally available.

I've been tempted to purchase a used arcade cabinet, buy an entry-level PC, toss MAME on the hard drive, and combine the two with existing software to create an arcade machine that plays over 3,000 games accurately.

But that's just me.

(What're holding me back include: the logistics of obtaining said cabinet, deciding between a standup or tabletop model, the cost of the PC, control panel issues (how to install a spinner for Tempest, a trac-ball for Centipede, a rotary joystick for Ikari Warriors), nagging fears of not knowing how to repair it when something breaks).

The Crazy Climber compilation for PSX is (a) Japan-only and (b) impossible to control with a standard controller. (If you can find the old-school two-joystick controller from Sony, you might get somewhere, but those are creakingly old and like hen's teeth to find.) There are also other Crazy Climber comps out there, like the updated Hyper Crazy Climber, which suffer similarly.