The Games we play...

[lol]

Oh your just 'so' cool hating Halo 3 aren't you? *claps* because thats not cliché at all..

The most irritating comment I've read all week. Halo 3 would have been utterly average without the hype, and with it, it's just poor.

But I'm only saying that to be cool, obv.

I don't really understand how having an opinion on a game can be cliché. Do you actually have to first find out what everyone else thinks, then depending on how you want other people to view you, decide whether you want to go with them or against them? Grow up, man, I don't believe for a second that you're actually over 16 with that kind of reasoning.

Afterthought:

Please could you back up this

Halo 3 is all-round amazing accomplishment

In your own words?

 

[Ollie]

Anyone who says halo 3 is good is just following the hype and thinks that if they say it's bad Bill Gates will shoot them. :shock:

 

[furie]

Bought, played and completed portal yesterday

Found whole experience very "meh" to be honest.

Sure there's a nice novelty factor to it.. But I had that novelty when i played the game it was based on : "Narbacular Drop" a few years ago.

It was okay.. just not the second coming everyone had me believe it was.

And short too.

6/10

QFT!

I enjoy the game - it's got a lot of class. It's amusing, and well made, but... It's just not anything new... It's passed the time well enough...

Anyway, I bought the remake of 'Another World'! It was only a fiver, so couldn't resist (especially as I didn't pay for it first time around on the 16 bit computers :lol: ).

It's great playnig it again, and remembering how to do it all. It's actually the first retro game I've played where it's not disappointed me - it's just as rubbish, yet compelling, as it was first time around

 

[lol]

Anyone who says halo 3 is good is just following the hype and thinks that if they say it's bad Bill Gates will shoot them. :shock:

No. I would imagine that anyone who says Halo 3 is good genuinely likes it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Just the people who think it's **** are more entitled to one than everyone else.

 

[big john]

Halo 1 was awsome but from then on it went down hill and yes i had a 360 and yes i bought halo 3 and yes it sucked monkey balls it was very disapointing. As for the comment that the 360 itself sucks i would have defended it to the death had it not actualy died a death and then when i recived it 3 weeks later aparantly fully repaired i also recived a kind note from microsoft quoting. "Please be aware prolonged usage of your product could cause damage or another falure" Now sorry to be a stickler here but WTF, I tent to buy a games sytem to use ie; Play games. So to me that insists that its going to get prolonged usage. So that is the time microsoft and the 360 lost my respect. Now onto the achivment system which is just a ploy to make you thinkyour getting more, Well sorry to dissapoint you here but the ps3 has one to fair enough not every game has it but most i have do. And finaly im not bashing the 360 its still got abit of life in it but its let me down o hard that i find it hard to defend it anymore you might have had no problems and if you like it well then there you go its the system for you but please dont try to defend it on achevment systems and one game (HALO) as ps3 owners will retort as they have and slate it. Also ps3 owners can actually quote more great games than just 1(HALO) but the main one that springs to mind again is, UNCHARTED DRAKES FORTUNE. Now lets see the 360 do this game cause theres no way it can without striping something out of it as the first 2 chapters alone woundnt even fit on a 360 dvd let alone the other 21 of this massive game. And another point in case GTA4 ps3 1 disk, 360 maybe 2 or 3 discs with lots of downloadable content. NOw sorry but i thought we had come a long way since the time of double and triple disc games. Anyways what im trying to say is that buy the system you like just dont defend it on stupid resons at least find something that actually means something. And also if you like the system you have got fair play its what you like and in the end thats what its for, Itf for games and you to enjoy.

 

[Anonymous]

What the Hell...?

I don't hate it to be "cool", I hated it mainly because the controls were so dire, then the fact that it's the same as every other FPS ever doesn't exactly help. It felt like a lot of the same of what I've played a hundred times, no lush landscapes, no wonderful cinematics, just a poor, generic shooting game that obviously appeals to everyone lacking in brain cell count.

And wow, it has MSN? Amazing... I wish I could get that on my computer, that would be awesome.

And that control pad, seriously, WTF? First of all it's like holding a block of concrete, and then the buttons are just all messed-up. I think after playing the Wii it will be impossible for me to revert to something as ghetto as the Xbox controller.

1. How are the controls dire??? =S theres nothing wrong with them.

FPS's usually are similar in one way or another, you shoot things, thats the general idea, I'm not going to disagree with you if you think that the game lacks in certain areas, thats your opinion, you think the game is poor, I don't, I think its really enjoyable and a good wrap-up to the series.

2. Whats wrong with the control pad!? "it's like holding a block of concrete" - WTF!? I fail to see the resemblence, its not a heavy controller, it's comfortable to hold and the only difference between a 360 and a PS3 controller is where the first analogue stick is placed.
The only reason the Sixaxis controller is light is because it doesn't have Dual-Shock, which will be released in a couple of months as a matter of fact.

3. I'm not implying MSN is a 'WOW' factor for the 360, but you can't diss having MSN on a console, its a bonus to have something like if you don't have a PC in your room and/or you just want to casually chat whilst playing.
Either consoles have various features that would excel on something thats made purposely for its use, but they're on consoles as bonuses for convenience and they're cheaper than PC's.

Then I think your very fickle.

How on earth am I 'fickle' for liking the achievement system over a PS3?
The PS3 doesn't have any type of achievement system, you can't tell me that gaining achievement points for reaching certain goals in games isn't rewarding.

The most irritating comment I've read all week. Halo 3 would have been utterly average without the hype, and with it, it's just poor.

But I'm only saying that to be cool, obv.

I don't really understand how having an opinion on a game can be cliché. Do you actually have to first find out what everyone else thinks, then depending on how you want other people to view you, decide whether you want to go with them or against them? Grow up, man, I don't believe for a second that you're actually over 16 with that kind of reasoning

It wasn't 'having an opinion' that made it cliché, it was the fact thats its so typical that once something gets hyped theres bound to be a bunch of people that will hate the game purely because it gets hyped.

Do you think the game would still be crap if it wasn't was so popular and hyped? If you do, fair enough but the fact of the matter is is that hype creates massive expectations that companies have to live-up to, and thats a challenging feat, and I think Bungie did pretty darn good.

I like to read reviews and hear peoples opinions on games, people's opinions don't affect my decision to buy a game, but a review would certainly sway my decision. Yes, in some ways a review on a gaming site IS basically another persons opinion, but I still think the review of a game is an important factor to take into consideration.
It isn't always necessarily the case, I might like the look of a game, follow its progress and read that the review of the game is crap, but ignore it to decide for myself.

In your own words?

yes? its hardly complex terminology.

Did you read Smelly's post at all?

The only reason it sold so much is because Microsoft raped practically every reviewing facility possible to say how good it is. Advertising.

So what you're basically implying is that a game could be really really crap but if the company shells out big-time to bump up the score then reviewers would follow suit?
That seems like a pretty ignorant theory to me, it would be easy to assume something like that, but I would love some proof.

I agree with your point about advertisements, for a product to sell well its pretty fundamental to advertise, but I don't think it guarantees a sale.

Just to clarify, I am not denegrating the PS3, I WANT a PS3 myself later in the future for games like Tekken 6 <3, MGS4 and FFXIII. I have played on a PS3 and I own a 360, the PS3 is very pretty but I do generally prefer the 360.

 

[furie]

1. How are the controls dire??? =S theres nothing wrong with them.

I can't stand them either

FPS's usually are similar in one way or another, you shoot things, thats the general idea, I'm not going to disagree with you if you think that the game lacks in certain areas, thats your opinion, you think the game is poor, I don't, I think its really enjoyable and a good wrap-up to the series.

The thing is, whether it's a good game of the genre or not, the fact is that the genre is utterly filled with games, all of a similar quality. So many of them, and if you love FPS', then I'm sure Halo 3 floated your boat too. However, what actually made it stand out against all the other ones out there, on all formats? The MS press machine was all. A hyperbole of epic proportions. The fact is, the game could never live up to the hype - very few games live up to the hype! The Half-Life series are the only ones which come even close.

3. I'm not implying MSN is a 'WOW' factor for the 360, but you can't diss having MSN on a console, its a bonus to have something like if you don't have a PC in your room and/or you just want to casually chat whilst playing.
Either consoles have various features that would excel on something thats made purposely for its use, but they're on consoles as bonuses for convenience.

Then I think your very fickle.

How on earth am I 'fickle' for liking the achievement system over a PS3?
The PS3 doesn't have any type of achievement system, you can't tell me that gaining achievement points for reaching certain goals in games isn't rewarding.

It's more the question of whether it's worth £60 a year or not to you, or if you'd rather just have it kept within a game. MSN is the same really. I can talk to other PS3 owners if I like (and have very occasionally), but the idea of using a chat system with a pad is abhorrent. I've got a keyboard now on my PS3, and I'd still not really want to do it. The case for having chat is in the very tiny percentages, as there are so few people who would use a 360 (or any console) for this kind of thing outside of a game environment. It's just too uncomfortable for long term use, unless you have no option.

So what you're basically implying is that a game could be really really crap but if the company shells out big-time to bump up the score then reviewers would follow suit?
That seems like a pretty ignorant theory to me, it would be easy to assume something like that, but I would love some proof.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/gamespot ... 328244.php

It's well known within the games industry how it is you get a great review. You either make a stunningly good game, or you have one where the budget cannot afford for you to get a low score.

Of course, it's nothing official, and nothing which can be proven. However, imagine yourself as the editor of a magazine (online or paper).

1. You have to make £300,000 advertising a month to run the mag.
2. Microsoft offer you £200,000 a month for three months prior to release of Halo 3, and £150,000 for the three months following release. With a single game, you have covered more than half your budget intake for 6 months!
3. The review comes out in months 3, and it gets a 7/10. MS call and say that they've decided that they're actually going to pull the ads for months 4. Through 6. Nothing to do with the review - they just feel that maybe the game doesn't deserve that kind of advert spend.
5. You get the review re-written, so that maybe the game DOES deserve it, maybe not a 10/10, but how about a positive 8, or a slightly negative 9?
6. Three months of half your budget of advertising arrives back again.

If you honestly think this doesn't happen, then you're seriously naive - you'll NEVER survive out in the real world.

Just to clarify, I am not denegrating the PS3, I WANT a PS3 myself later in the future for games like Tekken 6 <3, MGS4 and FFXIII. I have played on a PS3 and I own a 360, the PS3 is very pretty but I do generally prefer the 360.[/quote]

 

[mrclam]

Anyone who says halo 3 is good is just following the hype and thinks that if they say it's bad Bill Gates will shoot them. :shock:

No. I would imagine that anyone who says Halo 3 is good genuinely likes it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Just the people who think it's <img> are more entitled to one than everyone else.

Some people are just more easily influenced by advertising and what everyone else is doing.

For example there are people who'd say "westlife are the best band ever.. if you disagree you're obviously just saying that to look cool as 9 million fans will tell you different"

Some people get bought in by advertising and stuff. Reviewers get easily bought for advert money.. etc etc.

Its no accident that halo 3 was best selling game of last year.. when it was also had the most advertising given to it.

As for the 360 sucking.. I hate to say it ben.. but it doesnt. It's a very very very nice piece of kit. And it pains me to say that.

 

[mrclam]

So what you're basically implying is that a game could be really really crap but if the company shells out big-time to bump up the score then reviewers would follow suit?

That's exactly what happens

Imagine you make a website reviewing games. You survive on advertising on your website paying for your wages.

Now someone comes along and says "we'll give you $50,000 in advertising for this game if it gets 90% or above. If you dont think it's worth that score, then it's obviously not good enough for us to spend that much in advertising on".

Now if you're making a games website, $50k for you is a hell of a lot of money.. If you dont take it.. you run risk of pissing off publisher and they may not want to advertise with you again. You have to make money to eat!

They aren't saying "give us a high score and we'll pay you money" they're saying "if you dont give us a high score, it's obviously not good enough to give you money". And they might follow it up with ".. and if you dont like our games we may not bother advertising with you in future as there's no point"

Basically general rule of thumb. If a website/magazine is REALLY bigging up a game (or movie/book for that matter) look to see how many pages of adverts the company that makes that game has...

And only trust websites for reviews which dont rely on advertising for revenue.

for example:

www.consolevania.com
www.bbc.co.uk/videogaiden


Cant think of others off top of my head.. sure there are some though.

 

[kimahri]

Am I the only one here who doesnt really care which current gen console is better?

All have there advantages and disadvatages :|

 

[trav]

Dunno if any of these games have already been posted, and I know they've been out for aaages, but I still think they're all pretty good.

Strategy games:

1. Universe At War - Earth Assault
This was my favourite game of 2007. Easily. The graphics are quite possibly the best graphics I've ever seen on any game, ever. I loved C&C games, which were made by the same people, and many of the good points of games such as C&C Generals were carried over to this game. The story is good and had me hooked till the end. Also, the fact that it's playable online, as well as on the campaign or just a skirmish, is a big plus. I'd give this a good 8/10.

2. Sunage
Another good game for 2007. Pretty much the same as UAW:EA, just with graphics that aren't so spectacular and a different storyline. This game is a little harder to get into, because the gameplay doesn't suck you in straight away, and it gets a little repetitive after a while. I'd give this game a 6/10 still.


Sport Games:

1. Fifa 08
Best Fifa yet. I even have to go as far as saying that I preferred this to the latest Pro Evo, which is a shocker. The game has very good graphics, and the gameplay is pretty smooth for me. Some of the new features, such as the Be A Pro mode, are very addictive and kept me entertained for hours. I'd give this game a 7/10

2. NHL08
Ok. This game was totally, utterly and completely pointless. All they did was change the team rosters from 07, and made the game harder to play. The 07 version was a good game, but the 08 version is just dire. 2/10 from me.

Other Games:

1. Kane & Lynchead men
A reasonably good game. My favourite FPS of 2007 (Halo 3 did nothing for me) simply because of how crisp the graphics are. Also, it's not too difficult, but not too easy, as opposed to some games which are either of the two.
The storyline was pretty good, although I thought that sometimes it went a bit too far with somethings, eg - throwing things out of the back of a van at Police Cars that are chasing you down a highway. Overall, I'd give this game a 7/10.

2. Colin Mcrae - DiRT
The only other game that made a big enough impact (good or bad) for me to want to post about it. This is easily the best racing game I've ever seen. It takes what was good about all the previous Colin Mcraes and mashes them into one, along with adding on some new features and quite fun things to do, such as racing big Artic Lorries around a rally track. Combine this with killer graphics and you have yourself a good game. Another 7/10 for me.


I'm just hoping that another UAW will come out this year.

 

[mrclam]

Am I the only one here who doesnt really care which current gen console is better?

Nope. Me neither really.

Mainly because it totally depends on your definition of "better".

360 is most powerful
wii has nintendo games
ps3 has blu ray player for movies.

etc etc

 

[John91]

I'm not the most fussed of everyone about the console war, but my PS3 is only on the way due to familiarity and the promise of GT5 next year.

 

[Ollie]

360 is most powerful

Can you stop posting that, it is 100% incorrect.
PS3 is built around power, 360 struggles to keep it's power button on.

Anyway i've downloaded 'Theme Hospital' from the PSstore, and it's reminded me of how much fun it used to be.
Anyway definetly recomend buying it, and for £3.50 it's a bargain.

8/10.

 

[kimahri]

Theme hospital = superior on PC

 

[mrclam]

Can you stop posting that, it is 100% incorrect.

Look, you're going to have to just acknowledge that i know more about these things than you do.

I'm not going to bother to go into it again as everyone is bored of it now. Just go read my "toy manufacturing" analogy a few pages back where i explain it in laymans terms.

There's no need to get upset about it. I'd personally would prefer a ps3 over a 360 even knowing which is more powerful (actually, i'd prefer a wii.. which is the one i have). It's about the games not the power (regardless what the marketing men try to have you believe).



Reet.. back on topic again. Just been having a go at trauma centre on the wii. It's an old game now.. but it's enjoyable - worth picking up on budget/second hand.. BUT not worth full price.

7/10


Should be getting copies of "no more heroes" and "manhunt 2" soon so i'll give opinions on them once i've had a bash.

 

[Ollie]

Right I want this console war to end, NOW!
So i've put togther a list comparing the two consoles to see which one is the best and stop this silly arguing.


Hardware
PS3:The PS3 has a CPU known as the Cell Broadband Engine.
It has a whopping 8 cores that run at 3.2GHz Each.
6 are used for your games
1 is dedicated to the OS and Security
The 8th isn't used.

360The Xbox 360 uses a Triple Core CPU which is simular to your computer CPU.
They run at 3.2GHz each.

The PS3 has Seven Cores, while the 360 only has Three, This means PS3 is twice as powerfull.
PS3: 1 Xbox 360: 0

Graphics Processing Unit
PS3:The PS3 uses a GPU known as the Reality Synthesizer.
It processes at 550MHz
It has 256mb RAM that runs at 1.3GHz
The RAM is dedicated to the CPU.

360The Xbox 360 uses a GPU known as a Xenos.
It runs at 500MHz
It has 512mb RAM, but this is shared by the CPU, so you'll never use over 400mb.
This RAM runs at 800MHz for the entire system.

As we don't entirely know the capacity of the Xbox 360 Xenos chip the score is now...
PS3: 2 Xbox 360: 0

Looks
PS3: Theres no saying the PS3 looks bad,
Though fingerprints do show on it's black finish.

360: Not too big, though it's not very good looking.

The 360 has a huge great box on it's power cable which is really inconveniant, while the PS3 just has a cable straight to the mains.
PS3: 3 Xbox 360: 1

The Disks
PS3:The PS3 uses a format called Blu-ray ROM.
It uses a blue laser to read instead of red.
These disks can hold up to 50GB on one disk.
It reads alot faster than the Xbox 360.

360: The Xbox 360 uses an old format disk called DVD-ROM
These disks can hold up to 15GB, Nowhere near the ammount of space the PS3 has.

GTAIV has been made smaller because of the Xbox 360 disk.
The city is smaller and the ammount of content is small. The game is spread over 3/4 disks, while the PS3 has the whole game on one disk.

PS3: 4 Xbox 360: 1


Features
PS3: Up to 7 wireless
360: Up to 4 wireless

PS3: controllers charge in 15 minutes and last 30 hours.
Xbox 360: AA bateries (heavy, expensive) lasts 40 hours.

PS3: Controller range of 75 feet
Xbox 360 Controller range of 30 feet.

PS3: Sixaxis Technology
Xbox 360 No Sixaxis

PS3: 6 USB Ports
360: 2 USB Ports

PS3: All camera memory card imports.
360: Nothing

PS3: Free internet
360: Annual fee of £40.

PS3: Built in Blu-ray player
360 £120 extra for HD-DVD drive (which has lost the format war)

PS3: WIFI Ready
360: £60 WIFI Adapter

PS3: 1080P HD Output
360 720P HD Output

PS3: Vibration in controllers
360: Vibration in controllers

PS3: Light Controllers
360: Heavy controllers

PS3: Heaps of backwards compatibility
360: Little backwards compatibility

PS3: Silent Fan
360: Very Noisy Fan

PS3: Up to 750GB Hard Drive
360: Up to 120GB Hard Drive

PS3: No Over Heating problems
360: Over Heating problems

PS3: Internal Power supply
360: Huge external brick Power supply

PS3: 5 Xbox 360: 1

Games

Since the 360 has been out for an extra 16 months before the PS3, it has more games on the market.

The PS3 has over 224 games incoming or already out.

The Xbox 360 has 280 titles in develpoment or released. For a console thats been out for more than a year than it's rival it's not that many more titles.

PS3 can handle more, and can be more creative and are not all 100% war related like 360 games.

PS3: 6 Xbox 360: 2


PS3 WINS: 6-2

I hope that sorted all these false claims out, and has shown which machine is truly better.

 

[lol]

lol wrote:
In your own words?

yes? its hardly complex terminology.

This does not explain in your own words why you think Halo 3 is a brilliant game...

 

[mrclam]

@Coaster Ollie:

GAAAH!!!

Okay.. congratulations on copy and pasting a complete load of nonsense from somewhere. It doesnt mean you're right. I honestly cant be bothered replying to each bit as :

1. it's completely off topic
2. it's completely incorrect
3. you wont listen to me anyhow - as you've read something somewhere so it MUST be true.
4. (shock) I might actually know a HELL of a lot more about it than you do but you wont listen.

Just be happy believing whatever it is you believe. Go home and sleep well tonight knowing whatever you think to be "fact".

Even though you're wrong.

Right - now back to games please.

The next person that goes on about power of machines will have me fly over to their houses and give them a smack on their bare bottoms (especially if the information they're posting is wrong and temps me into fishing me back into talking about it).


PS: Please no-one even start to pick holes in the pants he's just posted - or this topic will go even more off topic again.

 

[mrclam]

Back to game recommendations.

I *REALLY* liked puzzle quest. Played it at work on the 360 - started playing just at lunch.. then found myself sneaking in some plays during the day just to get to the next bit

The thing is.. it's a simple crappy game.. no more than bejewelled really

But it just keeps you playing.. Probably THE most addictive game i've played all year.

.. But it should've been crap.

9/10 (but i wanted to give it 6/10)

I hear the DS version is just as good.. but the wii version sucks balls.