Messages

1

General / Finished Halo CE for the OG XBoX Before 20th Anniversary

« on: August 30, 2021, 04:38:28 pm »

Not sure if this is interesting, just shows how pathetic I am, or really means not much of anything.

I finally finished my first Halo game, and I made sure it was the original and that I accomplished it right before the 20th anniversary arrives. There are a multitude of reasons why this never happened in the past and I will detail them now:

1. When the game first came out I was taking 21 credit hours at school and had no time for games or making money to buy games.
2. Soon after I got married and once again found there was no time for games or money to buy them (although I did pickup a Game Boy Advance for Advance Wars and WarioWare - always money for that)
3. Life had moved on and the XBox was old news once I had money and time again. Many years had passed and it felt silly to go back and play yesterday’s FPS.
4. Finally purchased an OG Xbox and copy of Halo CE. Found that my rear projection DLP 65 inch TV (which was cool At the time) was not bright enough to play this game in full sunlight. It was so hard to see in some of the levels. Gave up in frustration.
5. My first child was born and I had a new house, a new TV, and time in the middle of the night while I rocked her back to sleep to play. Made decent progress until I abandoned the game because my job changed and I ended up needing to do more work around the clock.
6. Fast forward to now and I finally beat the game today. That last level sucked. I didn’t realize how terrible I was at driving. Yet, here I am almost twenty years later - finished and game is compete.

What now? I need to find another game that has inspired decades of sequels and media to start. I guess it is time for Uncharted. Yep, never beat that one either.

2

General / Re: What Games Defined Each Generation for You?

« on: January 05, 2021, 03:48:59 pm »

These are my answers based on when I actually lived through the generation. My answers might actually be different looking back now.

2nd Gen - Atari 2600
 - Q-Bert (2600)
 - Warlords (2600)
 - Space Invaders (2600)

3rd Gen - NES/SMS
 - Super Mario Bros. (NES)
 - Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
 - Mega Man (NES)

4th Gen - Genesis/SNES and Game Gear/Game Boy
 - Sonic the Hedgehog (GG and GEN)
 - Street Fighter II (SNES)
 - ActRaiser (SNES)

5th Gen - PS1/N64/Saturn
 - Final Fantasy VII (PSX)
 - Super Mario 64 (N64)
 - Lunar Silver Star Story Complete (PSX)

6th Gen - Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/Xbox and PSP/DS
 - Space Channel 5 (DRC)
 - Sonic Adventure (DRC)
 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (NGC)
Bonus: Skies of Arcadia (DRC) - my copy would never load past about 45 minutes into the game. The store wouldn’t exchange it and I never contacted Sega to see if they would help. It is my biggest upset that I didn’t get to experience this game until later)

7th Gen - PS3/Wii/360 and PSV/3DS
 - Culdcept Saga (X360)
 - Blue Dragon (X360)
 - Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball (3DS)

8th Gen - PS4/X1/Wii-U
 - Final Fantasy XIV (started playing in PS3 gen) (PS4)
 - Persona 5 (PS4)
 - Nintendoland (WIIU)

9th Gen - PS5/XSeX/Switch
 - Zelda Breath of the Wild (NSW)
 - Dragon Quest Heroes I / II (NSW)
 - Super Mario 35 (NSW)

3

General / Re: Do You Have A Hard Time Picking A Game To Play?

« on: February 07, 2020, 03:09:53 pm »

Yes, and it becomes debilitating. My game time is so limited due to work, family, and other commitments that I know I have to choose wisely because I only have so many more gaming hours in my lifetime. So there are online games I missed out on because I never got around to them, there are games that have been spoiled because I waited to long to play them (plot points revealed to me), and I have wasted my time on so many crappy games that I stopped playing halfway through.

I just sit in my room looking at the systems as they taunt me.

4

Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: November 06, 2018, 09:37:13 am »

This movie seems to get a lot of shit, not entirely unfairly, but I think this is totally a watchable action movie.  The writing isn't that great, it's not really the story anyone wanted with us finally getting a movie set during the war, it's stupidly PG-13 (I'm still dumbfounded that T3 is actually R-rated) but what we got isn't that bad.  I'd watch this any day over T3 and probably Genisys, which I'll be getting to soon.

I saw this in theatres and I had the same reaction. I was really surprised everyone I spoke with absolutely hated this movie. The movie was no masterpiece, but it was a decent action flick. 

5

General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: November 06, 2018, 09:21:34 am »

I just started BoxBoy! on my 3ds. I haven't played any of this series in the past and I am surprised at how fun and addictive the gameplay is.

It has been a quick play through so far, but I still have a few more worlds to tackle.

6

Modern Video Games / Re: E3 2018: Microsoft

« on: June 11, 2018, 10:45:44 am »

I still enjoy Xbox's infrastructure the best although i have a PS4 and a Switch (along with retro systems) still in active use. 

I picked up my Game Pass card for 6 months at half price this week (E3 promotion) and my local Microsoft store gave me an extra month free. So I have 7 months for $30 which will get me all the exclusives like Forza through the end of the year. Microsoft's lull in the presentation was when they devoted a few minutes to Game Pass, but that is the future of Microsoft right there.

I still just enjoy playing on the Xbox the most. I'm glad PS4 became the popular console this gen because all of the bratty young kids that plagued online games during the X360 reign are now on Sony's network. Seem to find more mature gamers ro play with consistently on Xbox now that it is the minority.

The Microsoft E3 show was exciting and I was only sad because two of my favorite far fetched rumors didn't come true. 1. Rocksteady debut new game at Xbox show   2. Blue Dragon 2

7

General / Re: Time spent gaming

« on: June 07, 2018, 11:03:16 am »

Ranges from about 30 minutes to an hour a day unless I'm on a business trip and then it just varies on the amount of time I have jn the hotel room at night.

I used to sit up in high school and college and play hours at a time, but now with work, family, and responsibilities there is not a lot of time.

8

General / Re: Favorite Games

« on: May 24, 2018, 06:45:08 pm »

Some of my favorites in no particular order:

Q-Bert
Baseball Stars
ActRaiser
Final Fantasy VII
Space Channel 5
Culdcept Series
Legend of Zelda OOT
Final Fantasy X
Batman Arkham Asylum
Final Fantasy XIV
Splosion Man
Rusty's Real Deal Baseball
Lunar Silver Star Story
Tetris
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic Mania
Breath of the Wild
Advance Wars
Splatoon
Phantasy Star
Phantasy Star Online

9

General / Re: Let's Talk About The 7th Generation Of Gaming Consoles

« on: February 03, 2018, 02:24:22 am »

Xbox 360 and Wii won this generation. They provided unique experiences and moved gaming forward. I actually probably played my PS3 more than my Wii, but it didn't bring anything new to the field except for larger storage space.

I feel the same way about PS4 - a generic console that has a lot of good games. It even cracked me up when i saw they put a speaker on their controller. I felt like someone in their R&D department looked at what everyone else was doing and brought it over to Playstation. Achievements.... Uhh let's make Trophies. Wii motion controls... Let's make something with a big colored ball on it. Xbox camera..... Let's make a camera too. Wiimote has sounds... Us too.   rumble controllers... We now have dualshock.

10

Modern Video Games / Most Modern Games too Easy?

« on: February 01, 2018, 02:54:07 pm »

I was curious what people thought about modern games being too easy.

1. Is this a true statement?
2. If so, does this make a statement about current gamers?
3. Are games that are more difficult passed over in our current environment, or altered to achieve universal success?

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General / Miss Final Fantasy XIV 1.0?

« on: February 01, 2018, 02:07:35 am »

Does anyone else miss Final Fantasy XIV 1.0? 

I understand there was a lot of frustration with the beta, but towards the end before ARR showed up it was really fun to play. I'm kind of a masochist in the gaming department though. I like games that don't hold your hand and you have to work at it. Some of the fundamental menus and ideas were broken when it first launched and I think the team knew that and management pushed for the set release date. The arguments against it not being WOW and some of the subsequent changes make it frustrating to me.

Im glad the changes brought in new players, but there is a piece of me that wishes the old game returned.

12

General / Re: Twin Galaxy Banned Todd Rogers

« on: February 01, 2018, 12:02:02 am »

The worst part is from what eyewitness accounts have told us is that Todd Rogers was a really good player back in the day. Whatever he displayed in person for Activision back in the day actually convinced them he was as good as his supposed fake score.

Too bad the guy went off the deep end and kept needing the attention and praise by fabricating fake scores. I would love to hear him come clean and share was the original Dragster score a fraud and how two other people were displayed to have the same score.

EDIT: I just did some research and found that in one of the later Activision newsletters the other two people who claimed the same hi-score in Dragster were disqualified. Weird. Todd Rogers was flown around.by Activision showing off his skills in person at CES and other venues. Supposedly he replicated his scores in person for the programming team and won their favor so they continued to have him travel around with them. Seems like they wouldn't have done this unless he was actually able to do what he said.

13

Modern Video Games / Re: Xbox One Exclusives

« on: January 27, 2018, 11:52:41 am »

I understand that it is not a true exclusive if it is on PC too, but for most people I know (not hardcore gamers) they treat all the games not available on other consoles to be exclusives due to higher cost associated with keeping up to date with PC gaming.

I was always curious how well the Xbox games sell on pc. Most of my friends who play PC exclusively could care less about the Xbox games and most of my friends who do like them would rather play on a Xbox One X.

If you filter the search to only include the full exclusives (ie can only be played on an Xbone), the list is as follows :

Upcoming
[Pending] Natsuki Chronicle (Qute)
[Pending] Shooting Love Trilogy (Triangle Service)
[Pending] Yomi wo Saku Hana (Experience)

Released
[Import] Azito x Tatsunoko Legends (Hamster)
Forza Motorsport 5 (Microsoft)
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (Microsoft)
Halo 5: Guardians (Microsoft)
Powerstar Golf (Microsoft)
Rare Replay (Microsoft)
Sunset Overdrive (Microsoft)

What are they thinking!!

14

General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: January 27, 2018, 12:03:25 am »

Gamefly-ed Phantasy Star Zero for the DS but while I wait for my bf to feel like playing it, I got the urge to pull out the Phantasy Star Collection on my GBA. I remember by being shocked that the original games weren't anything like the PSO games, lol. Anyway, it's hitting the spot of old school RPGs where you have no idea where to go and just have to risk going out into the wild, hope you run into a weak monster, run away from strong monsters, and run back to town to heal. Repeat 50 more times until you can buy better gear. Good stuff!

LOL. I was always curious if this is how everyone played these games. I try to stay away from guides and videos so games aren't spoiled. I will say the first part of Phantasy Star I had to use a guide because i never figured out on my own how to get the road pass when I was a kid. I still remember pulling out paper and pen to map the dungeons.

15

Modern Video Games / Re: Is buying used games morally wrong?

« on: January 25, 2018, 02:38:01 am »

I only buy new games if they are still in print, and I try to buy them from brick and mortar retail stores if they still have then in stock.

I do this because I like my games pristine. I normally only buy sealed retro games unless the cost is too high also. I also do this to support the company and the retailer when games are still in print. It doesn't make you a bad person to buy used, but it definitely cuts in to the sales of a game along with games retaining their value at retail. I came from the era where a game was $90 new (inflation) so games are so cheap these days.

I am scared how many people pick up their new games on Amazon and digitally. When Amazon finally kills their retail competitors (only Walmart has a chance of surviving) they are not going to be offering deals any longer and we will all be stuck paying what they want. Also digital hurts my heart because the games will be gone some day and we are going to be sad when they go.