THE GAMING HARDWARE THREAD: PS3 - 360 - WII

[Aphxtwinin]

Diablo III finally has a release date. May 15, 2012

its awesome, im in the beta and shit is cray...also, im getting a new iPad tomorrow and im excited to see how some of the new iPad optimized games are gonna look and play on it like Infinity Blade 2 with the recent update and the Ace Combat game that is made specifically for the new CPU/GPU...ill report back if anyone cares

[Alchemy]

I'm trying to play Uncharted 2, but there are a ton of updates to download and they are taking forever for some damn reason. This is literally taking hours. Ridiculous.

[TomServo]

I'm trying to play Uncharted 2, but there are a ton of updates to download and they are taking forever for some damn reason. This is literally taking hours. Ridiculous.

Never plan on playing a Ps3 game until it's downloaded an evening's worth of nonsense. Definitely one of the worst elements of the system, constant updating on a slooooooow network.

[Boourns]

Yeah, even SSX had an update, despite having been just a week old at the time.

[Alchemy]

I got a couple errors for connection time outs while downloading the updates, so I just gave up for the night. I guess I should focus on completing Skyward Sword anyway.

[lunatic core]

I am shocked when I put in any Xbox 360 game and it doesn't have an update. They are usually crazy fast though.

[nathanfairchild]

So I beat Mass Effect 3 after 42 hours put in this week. It was really great game. They seemed to have solved a lot of the issues I had with 2. Overall the story in 3 was pretty great. I found myself genuinely emotionally tied to the fate of these characters and concerned about what would happen next. The pacing of the game was absolutely brilliant. but the ending...not good. in the end the decisions you make throughout the series didn't really matter. big fuck up by Bioware, and seriously disappointing. About a million unanswered questions and some pretty glaring plot holes, but I guess they'll have to make Mass Effect 4 to answer those. Overall I'd give the trilogy an 8/10. Had they done a better job with the ending this would be an easy 10/10.

[spiggums]

Just beat it myself... The internet bitchfest over the ending is silly, at best.

[cutterbutter]

So I beat Mass Effect 3 after 42 hours put in this week. It was really great game. They seemed to have solved a lot of the issues I had with 2. Overall the story in 3 was pretty great. I found myself genuinely emotionally tied to the fate of these characters and concerned about what would happen next. The pacing of the game was absolutely brilliant. but the ending...not good. in the end the decisions you make throughout the series didn't really matter. big fuck up by Bioware, and seriously disappointing. About a million unanswered questions and some pretty glaring plot holes, but I guess they'll have to make Mass Effect 4 to answer those. Overall I'd give the trilogy an 8/10. Had they done a better job with the ending this would be an easy 10/10.

The ending of something you've invested that much time in, playing 3 giant games, changes your "rating" that much? I'd understand going from 9.5 to a 10 but thats pretty drastic to go from a B- to an A+ you know based on one final cut scene (or however its presented). I mean, if the game was 10 hours and had a bad ending I'd mind more but at some point if I've got 126 hours (42*3~) over 3 games and spent $180 its about the whole ride, the journey. Or hey, I spent $15 on Journey this week for a 90 minute game but its a 10/10 best game I've played etc for MANY MANY moments just as important as its ending.

I've only played about half of Mass Effect 1, but have been looking forward to get all 3 and going through them all some day, but thats quite disheartening to hear that the subpar ending had that huge of an effect on this series which is everything current expansive gaming is today. Maybe final moments effect lasting impressions more for certain people. Between this post and reddit I'm having flashbacks to everyone disowning LOST because of its final episode, despite everyone's absolutely love/craze/admiration for it on a week to week basis.

[spiggums]

The ending of something you've invested that much time in, playing 3 giant games, changes your "rating" that much? I'd understand going from 9.5 to a 10 but thats pretty drastic to go from a B- to an A+ you know based on one final cut scene (or however its presented). I mean, if the game was 10 hours and had a bad ending I'd mind more but at some point if I've got 126 hours (42*3~) over 3 games and spent $180 its about the whole ride, the journey. Or hey, I spent $15 on Journey this week for a 90 minute game but its a 10/10 best game I've played etc for MANY MANY moments just as important as its ending.

I've only played about half of Mass Effect 1, but have been looking forward to get all 3 and going through them all some day, but thats quite disheartening to hear that the subpar ending had that huge of an effect on this series which is everything current expansive gaming is today. Maybe final moments effect lasting impressions more for certain people. Between this post and reddit I'm having flashbacks to everyone disowning LOST because of its final episode, despite everyone's absolutely love/craze/admiration for it on a week to week basis.

(I think I did a good job of keeping the below a discussion void of spoilers while talking about the actual issues at play. If someone disagrees... I will edit this)

The things people seem to be complaining the most about are a: plot holes and b: the notion that choices made in the series "didn't matter" with the way the game ends.

As for the plot holes.. without being spoilerific... there are three main points of contention. The most benign of which is a turn of events that was pretty well expected in the game I played, but people seem to think came from out of nowhere... the other two are, at worst, leaving you to connect a few dots on your own... there are certainly logical paths you can follow to get there...

As for the "your choices didn't matter" factor... they absolutely did, just not in the way people wanted them to. While I'm not surprised that people are bitching about this, I think if you take a minute to think about it Bioware did something really interesting here. Yes, you could change the way the game ends with no regard to how you've played the series... but since they did such a good job of creating a universe that you felt emotionally invested in (or at least I did)... there's an emotional response that came with the choices you were given. Put it this way, when presented with three ways to beat Deus Ex Machina I was like "yeah, whatever" at the end of the game... but here I actually spent a few minutes thinking of which direction was right for the character based off of both the way he viewed the world and the ramifications of the choice he was about to make.

[nathanfairchild]

but that's just it, the outcome is the same no matter what you chose. I'm not in the same camp as those that are writing to bioware demanding changes, but more than anything closure would've been great. they left the ending almost too open for interpretation. I want to know what happens to the crew, i want to know what happens to earth post-reaper conflict, i want to know about the new planet they landed on, i wanted to know how far back technology was set after the mass effect relays exploded, i wanted to know the fate of the other races, etc. It sounds like a lot to ask for but MGS4 had nearly an hour of post-game cutscenes fleshing ou the story after the final battle. If this was any other game i would be fine with an open ended ending, but this was planned as trilogy from day 1, so answers at the end would've been nice. Also the ending i got was the "best" where shepard took a breath amongst all the rubble, so i wish they could've shown what happened after your choice, live or die, because this whole trilogy was centered around shepards fight, and they said future games would not be.

[Alchemy]

Never plan on playing a Ps3 game until it's downloaded an evening's worth of nonsense. Definitely one of the worst elements of the system, constant updating on a slooooooow network.

I can usually download big updates pretty fast though. These Uncharted 2 updates are strangely slow. I was reading on some forum some guy saying that it wasn't the PSN that hosted game updates, but servers from the game companies. I wonder if Naughty Dog just doesn't use that great a server for Uncharted 2, since it isn't really new anymore. I don't really know about that kind of stuff though. All I know is that this is ridiculous. It shouldn't take an hour to download 1 94 MB update, especially when there are like 10 of them!

[Alchemy]

A day of updates later, I beat Uncharted 2. Totally worth the wait! It seemed like there was always something amazing happening around every corner. The little village that you go to in the Himalayas was really fantastic. So was Nepal. I kind of wished that you were able to go there and just wander around, without having to fight an army, and look at all the sights. It's amazing how much detail was put into all the set pieces. Even temples and caves, which always seem dull and sparse in other games, had all these things to marvel at.

The story was also pretty great, I thought. It felt like a big summer blockbuster, with the fun things like in an Indiana Jones movie, except not like the last Indiana Jones movie (which was just George Lucas pooping into Steven Spielberg's mouth). The way they make their cinematics, with the actors wearing those motion capture balls, really works well - especially for the acting, since the actors all interact with each other on a set, instead of individually recording their dialogue.

I wish more games would add bonus features, like concept art, and especially making-of-videos.

[Alchemy]

Also: Here is a new SimCity video.

[nathanfairchild]

i love little details like that in games.

alos, finally got around to playing Journey. Wow. what a great experience. I didn't know how the multiplayer would work but it really does feel great going through that world with a companion. I can't recommend this game enough. I'm gonna be playing it all week.

[Dogvolta]

In regards to the ME3 ending...even though I have not beaten the game yet (i've got about 25-30 hours, only play couple days a week, and take my sweet time with dialogue and codex), I am under the firm belief that the ending they provided in game isn't the "true' ending. I think this simply because of the hints that ME3 twitter has been dropping like crazy that something IS up with the ending that is not normal, and it ties in perfectly with everyone's fleshed out theory of shepard being indoctrinated.

Check out this collection of twitter posts, pretty crazy
http://social.bioware.com/qnwn.net/f...ndex/9985131/2

[BlackSwan]

"To that end, Exec Producer Casey Hudson and the team are hard at work on a number of game content initiatives that will help answer the questions, providing more clarity for those seeking further closure to their journey. You'll hear more on this in April. We're working hard to maintain the right balance between the artistic integrity of the original story while addressing the fan feedback we've received. This is in addition to our existing plan to continue providing new Mass Effect content and new full games, so rest assured that your journey in the Mass Effect universe can, and will, continue."

http://kotaku.com/5895215/bioware-is...ffect-3-ending

[nathanfairchild]

never thought they'd cave.

[BlackSwan]

Same... The "new full games" part is very interesting as well.

[faxman75]

A day of updates later, I beat Uncharted 2. Totally worth the wait! It seemed like there was always something amazing happening around every corner. The little village that you go to in the Himalayas was really fantastic. So was Nepal. I kind of wished that you were able to go there and just wander around, without having to fight an army, and look at all the sights. It's amazing how much detail was put into all the set pieces. Even temples and caves, which always seem dull and sparse in other games, had all these things to marvel at.

The story was also pretty great, I thought. It felt like a big summer blockbuster, with the fun things like in an Indiana Jones movie, except not like the last Indiana Jones movie (which was just George Lucas pooping into Steven Spielberg's mouth). The way they make their cinematics, with the actors wearing those motion capture balls, really works well - especially for the acting, since the actors all interact with each other on a set, instead of individually recording their dialogue.

I wish more games would add bonus features, like concept art, and especially making-of-videos.

Nice little review. I agree with all of this. I'm still not done, but i'm getting there. I'm in chapter 20 something. At the part where I have to snipe from the building while rockets are being shot at me. I get the building to crumble but man i'm having a tough time with getting across the bridge without getting killed. I'll probably play more tonight after class. I should probably order Part 3 soon.

[nathanfairchild]

there is a scene on a plane in 3 that is seriously one of the greatest moments I've had as a gamer.





recently i should say.

[Alchemy]

Damn... I want to play part 3, but I feel like I've been playing way too many video games lately.

[lehorne]

like to give a shout out to 2008’s Hot Shots Golf (Out of Bounds) on PS3. Getting back into her from scratch after a lull. Okinawa is probably my favorite course and the music in the Alps one also really makes it. It’s good solo or a stoney multiplayer session and I don’t even especially like golf all that much. If you want to give me a go sometime online let me know.

Also, Journey was incredible.

[Dogvolta]

For those butt-hurt about the ME3 ending...check this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck

http://uninhibitedandunrepentant.tum...mind-holy-fuck

[Still-ill]

there is a scene on a plane in 3 that is seriously one of the greatest moments I've had as a gamer.




recently i should say.

It's definitely one of the best ever.

[Dogvolta]

For those butt-hurt about the ME3 ending...check this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythY_GkEBck

http://uninhibitedandunrepentant.tum...mind-holy-fuck

So Saturday, I cleared my entire schedule all day, and absolutely binged on playing ME3...all day. After that, and after watching the videos and reading the articles on the Indoctrination Theory...I am part of the camp that believes Bioware may have made one of thee most amazing endings to a video game.

Don't get me wrong. I can very much so understand how and why a LOT of people hate the ending. I figure there are 3 camps of haters:
1: I am sure that the Indoctrination Theory blew over most people's head, so the ending, taken at face value, would be jarring and, well, shitty.
2: Those that completely disagree and don't believe the IT. It is indeed just a theory. I, however, have a harder time NOT believing it. To me it seems blatantly obvious that Bioware went out of their way with examples and evidence supporting the theory. But yeah, I understand there are those that put no merit into it.
3: Those that believe the IT, but think it was a bad design choice by Bioware. I can understand that too. It was a risky move to end the trilogy in such a way. As much as I have the right to admire and like their design choice, everyone else has the right to hate it.

Like I said, I absolutely loved what they did with the ending. The ending of ME2 had a bland and typical video-gamey boss battle which blends into the grey of 97% of every single boss battle in video games since fucking bowser on the bridge. The battle at the end of ME3 (assuming IT is correct, which I thoroughly believe) will forever be one of the most significant and memorable end game battles I've seen.

[Mugwog]

Anyone who enjoys platformers/Zelda styled combat systems and great art direction should check out Alice: Madness Returns. I just beat this game after about a week or so off and on. A great variety of mini games are also within this game (marble madness/2D side scroller clones). I was surprised to see such low ratings for a game with so much creativity. The control situation was smooth, which seems to be a problem when taking franchises from the PC world. If you buy it brand new (~$30) you get a code for the original pc game. The final boss wasn't too challenging, but there are plenty of fights in this game that keep you on your toes, and tons of puzzles to solves while you're making your way through a broken wonderland.

[faxman75]

I finally finished Uncharted 2 last night. What a game and story. I need to buy part 3 now. I hear it's shorter. The girl at Gamestop suggested I buy it used, beat it and then use the credit for another game when I return it within a week.

[Mugwog]

Fuck I'll sell you my uncharted 3
Boring ass game IMO, same fights, same boring slow combat system and sully is never where you venture to
I'm on chapter 21 or something and it seems to never end and the plot is making me yawn

[faxman75]

Did you like the other 2? How much you want to sell it for?