Ben-DutkaI think we're all a little NGP'd out, so I'll bypass that for this Week in Review.
We don't always have to be so serious
There's nothing wrong with taking your hobby seriously, but we often have to remind ourselves that a "hobby" – almost by definition – should be a satisfying, relaxing distraction. If we take things to seriously and get too competitive and too emotional, we inevitably lose a hefty chunk of that all-important "fun factor." This is why I have no problem indulging in something silly and over-the-top, like the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever . Game of the Year? Unlikely. But so what? It's The Duke! That professional fan-made movie really did remind me of a simpler time, and the awesome Return of the King trailer got me all pumped up. Kill stuff. Be a bad-ass. Chase the hotties. Come on; it's the classic old-school video game hero! We don't always need to be so darn serious; guilty pleasures have their places, too.
By the way, same goes for Bulletstorm . Better than KZ3? Nah. A stress-reliever that puts a sadistic little smile on my face? Yep. The latter will likely grow tiresome faster than a masterpiece like Killzone 3 but simple stress-relievers aren't supposed to be 10 hours in length. For just a few hours, you occasionally need to vent. So enter DNF and Bulletstorm , and don't apologize for it. Admit your indulgence!
Looks like Dragon Age II is my next RPG
We've learned that the Dragon Age sequel will feature 103 minutes of cut-scenes , which obviously means there's a fantastic emphasis on story. That shouldn't come as any real surprise if you're familiar with BioWare; Mass Effect 2 wasn't really my thing, but it's clear this particular developer enjoys creating complex, fulfilling storylines. And in the Dragon Age setting, I should really be able to appreciate it more. I've been moving along in Hyperdimension Neptunia (review coming soon) and while I won't give anything away just yet, I will say it's not really doing it for me. And I really loved Origins ; the only reason I never finished it was because I got sidetracked, and I hate it when that happens.
And you know, it's so odd that cut-scene length has plummeted over the years. When CGI/FMV was all the rage in the original PlayStation and PS2 eras, it was all about story-telling through that amazing new medium; I think we all remember some of the FFs and oh yes, Xenosaga . But these days, with technology the way it is, we can have something like God of War III and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves , where the non-interactive sequences look basically the same as the interactive parts. …never though we'd see the day, huh?
Personal gaming update
Well, for now, it's all about GT5 and Dead Space 2 , which is really great. I still don't like the plot as much as I did in the original title (more mysterious in the latter), but the atmosphere and action is always, always intense. Visceral knows how to keep you on your toes; they never let the game get too predictable, and the scariest part is the fact that you have no idea what's coming next. As for GT5, I got to see the credits just because I won the Gran Turismo World Championship but obviously, there's a ton left to do. I'll play it on and off in between other games, certainly. By the way, I used my favorite car, the Lexus LF-A; after doing everything to it, it's a 700HP, 225 m.p.h. beast with ridiculous acceleration. Of course, winning that event nets you the Bugatti Veyron that, after upgrading, sports like 1200HP, but I just love the look of the LF-A. If I was rich, that's the car I'd have. 🙂
Attention PSXE readers- As a side note, we're going to try starting up something new for the site, and as part of it, we're going to be answering reader questions. So, if you have something you want me to answer, you can either post your question below in the Comments (don't worry, I'll see it), or you can send it to me via e-mail. I can't talk about this new endeavor just yet, but we'll be starting it this week and hopefully, you'll see it all come to fruition soon. Thanks. 🙂
Well, personally, I can't get enough information on the NGP/PSP2/whatever they call the thing. I want one now, I want one on day one. It is the one and only absolute D1P of the year. Guaranteed purchase with pre-order once dates are confirmed. I want this thing from the very beginning. So if you want to run a story a day on it, I won't complain too loudly.
😉
Regarding Duke and other retro-games, or games that rely more on slick gameplay and fun than on impressive graphics and multi-player addiction. I agree, we do need the kind of unashamed fun, politically incorrect humor and mayhem that games like Duke Nukem can bring.
PGU
White
Kinght
Chronicles
Guild
Rank
Grinding
ARGH! I thought I had this figured out, all I had to do was hit Guild Rank 7 and I would have access to some cool armor and be able to max out my GeoRama stats and get the special armor sets. Re-birthing my character is a perk along the way. HA! The GeoRama itself has to be level 7 which will take about a quarter of a million gold to achieve. I don't want to think about how long it will take me to get to that amount of gold. I really don't. This game has me hooked on getting to the needed Georama level, but my god, it's ridiculously difficult because of the time required.
Oh, and a question, what kinds of question do you mean? Questions about upcoming games or games already here? Questions about the site? Questions about life the universe and everything?
Last edited by TheHighlander on 1/30/2011 2:59:05 AM
Forty-Two?
42!
42!?
That is the answer. What is the question?
How many roads must a man walk down?
What is six times nine?
im really enjoying dead space so far, around chapter 7 and very happy with it.
only thing thats disappointed me is wheres all the boss battles?
i was expecting some huge grotesque monsters to kill, but so far ive only seen one which has shown up a few times.
the game needs way more bosses!
ive had this niggling feeling throughout the whole game that they have held back a little just to keep it a little less hardcore.
i knew that was going to happen, because in every interview they kept mentioning that they did so much research and allot of people said they did not finish the original because it was too scary or too hard.
disappointing, i just cant help but feel the game has been held back to cater to the casual.
like the battles, theres never really a massive ambush you get a few enemies chasing you, but its never really oh sh*t im really overrun here!
they just needed to get it that bit further, add heaps more enemies and add in heaps more bosses and it would of been the perfect game!
i get that nagging feeling too in the horror aspect of the game.
the Nichole visions are such a missed opportunity, they could of made those really mind bending and scary, but all she does is just stare at you!
its a shame, i just cant help but feel they could of taken it so much further!
still a fantastic game, but just fell slightly short of its potential because of a fear of alienating their market.
come on visceral, for DS3 please go all out this time!!!!!!!!!
seriously, screw dantes inferno 2, i want that as much if not more than the next guy.
but seriously screw that, just get onto making DS3!
Weren't the majority of Xenosaga's cutscenes done using the in-game engine?
PGU-
PS3: Blazblue: Continuum Shift
Wii: Sakura Wars- So Long, My Love (2nd playthru)
DS : 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (4th playthru)
360: Record of Agarest War
Question:
Tastes change as we grow. For instance, I don't dig holes in the back yard and play in the dirt as often as when I was younger. I'm noticing that video games are becoming less and less a part of my life. Do any of you ever think that there will come a day when you don't play them anymore?
Considering that it seemed like an open question, I'll post my thoughts, even if it was directed towards the Arnold, Ben and John. Sorry to waste your time if the case is so.
I think… Yes, there will come a day. Or maybe not it being cut out of my life entirely, I'm far too invested in the hobby for that, but I am most certainly expecting a drop-off in my interest over time. I already find my time playing being reduced significantly. I used to play three or four hours a day, but now, I can't usually play past two, three at the most. As in every other facet of life, things change, interests change and fade. Ask again in another five years, and I'll tell you if anything has changed.
Peace.
Last edited by Lawless SXE on 1/30/2011 5:10:10 AM
NEVER!! or only maybe if it all became online games only and single player campaigns became extinct.
I know that was probably directed at Ben,John and Arnold but I thought I would chuck my two bob in…
Oh yeah and Ben I got to say mate you have pinned the tail on the donkey with your comment regarding not taking our hobby TOO seriously. There is nothing worse then when something that is meant to be fun becomes a chore, defeats the purpose doesn't it.
I play in the dirt more now than when I was younger. Of course, the 'toy' I use is my Xterra 🙂
Video games were non-existent for me for a while. My PS2 died in 2004, and I never bought a new console. I still had a PS1 hooked up in the basement, and I played through Dino Crisis once, but I never felt like I had to get a new PS2, or any other console for that matter.
However, I still kept up with gaming news(thanks to PSXE) and once PS3 came out, I went to my local gamestop almost every day for two weeks until they got their second shipment after launch day. I got a PS3 in December 2006, and I play just as much as I used to. I expect that will change as my responsibilities and obligations increase, but I will never lose the interest I have in gaming.
nogoat23,
Well I'm not sure what others may experience, but for me being 58, I say "OH HELL NO" my gaming will never die.
(But seeing that I'm also a gaming collector, I may be a bit biased) LMAO
Last edited by BikerSaint on 2/2/2011 12:40:27 PM
GT5 GT5, GT5; GT5……LBP2 GT5.
Lol, let me guess; you have been playing GT5 and LBP.
How did you crack my code???
lol yeah, and I've just been racing rodents in LBP2! …Here's hoping we get them as DLC in GT5 🙂
It was tough cracking it, but I was presistent… 😀
Indeed you were Bugz, indeed you were!
*carrots*
I know this has been said but a feature to let us know when someone has replied to one of our post (maybe an e-mail notification or something) would be nice as well as maybe an app for mobile phones or being able to comment on the site when on the mobile version of the site.I really enjoy this site and think it is awesome that you guys are asking for feedback.
PGU: Still playing GT5 and will be for quite some time. Also just picked up Dead Space 2 Limited Edition and can not wait to get started with it and will start playing Red Dead Redemption as soon Gamefly shows up in my mailbox
We really need an instant messaging on the side of the page as a fellow member suggested. People could create rooms & stuff to stop everyone shouting at once.
In regards to "fun factor" – I don't find these arcadey or over-the-top games to be "fun". I have no interest in Bulletstorm, and definitely don't care about Duke and his crude humor…..watching a guy pee in a urinal in a game isn't my idea of a game…..but to each his own.
But "stress relief" is why I play games. And I think that I get a great amount of stress relief playing games like Dead Space or Uncharted….even though they are very serious.
I guess when I want to waste time playing games, I turn to the free flash games on the internet….that is some mindless downtime right there.
I used up a $5 certificate I got in Toys R Us when I bought my sister a Wii this weekend on a game I talked so much shit about, and swore to never get: Bayonetta.
It was $9.99 minus 30% off. With the $5 off, I paid like $2.50 for it. The only games I saw for that price were Bayonetta, Brutal Legend, or Dark Void.
Did I make the right choice?
For that price, you should got all three!
Dark Void is better 🙂
@kellett007
"RDR Undead nightmare" it's pretty fun and it has some of that Romero vibe going for it. Feels like an different game rather than a thing they just threw in. In the missions you gotta clear out zombies in towns you better keep that horse moving or find a safe place to pick off zombies because you can get overrun fast.
Another thing do your self a favor and find of one of those four horses(mythical creature) or have a zombie horse because those S.O.B don't get tired and other zombie animals can't kill it. Down size of the zombie horse is they run like they're drunk and you can run into things you don't want to run into.
i have a question. its been bugging me for a while.
do you know if killzone 3 will have custom soundtracks like killzone 2 did?
to me it helped give an edge over other MP games. i would be shocked to find out if its been removed
I have question. When are we going to see a picture of you and Arnold? It would be nice to put a face to all the great articles that we have read on this site.
My personal gaming update:
Met someone else who seemed to be as interested in VGs as much I am… I don't know very many others in my social network. Turns out he's a full throttle Xbot or Micro$oft drone to be more precise. I just can't deal with fan boys in any form. He still thinks the Xbox has better hardware. oh well.
Other than that I can't wait for the KZ3 multiplayer demo to hit and once again i find myself playing through MGS4 again.
It's tax return weekend here in the UK with deadline 31st Jan so no games for me 🙁 Been an avid fan of this site and its contributors for years, but sadly haven't made more than 1 comment. Please keep up the great work everyone! Ben, if u get a YouTube channel or a PShome place or so on, please strive to always keep the core values of psxextreme.com! Write a constitution or something so if u ever move on in the future, the essence if this great site is preserved. 🙂 Cheers all !!
I got $2K back for my returns this year. Past two years I've gotten 1600. It should be posted to my account some time next week.
Ben,
I don't know what you guys have done to the site, but there appears to be a script running on it that is *killing* performance in Firefox.
I noscripted everything by PSXExtreme, and it's OK now. I'm gonna try re-enabling things until it breaks again.
OK, Ben, something from googlespis.com is destroying performance on the site. I don't run a fast system, but when I enable googleapis<dot>com scripts to run, Firefox pegs a processor core at 100% and it stays there for a while. When I click into the window and simply try to scroll, the page updates with the speed of a glacier, and the CPU use skyrockets. I'm not sure if you guys changed anything, or if it's a change made by Google, but whatever it is, it's killing the performance of the site.
Dan updated the site for PSP2 stuff today, so maybe it was a result of that.
Is it still happening? Things seem the same on my end.
Yeah, I just re-enabled googleapis for scripting and every mouse click on the page pegs an entire processor core to 100%, it takes a few seconds to clear and the page updates at a snail's pace while it's happening.
When I am typing in the post editor, everything is fine, but any time I try to scroll the page, the CPU use spikes and everything slows down. When I check my computer's task manager, it's the browser that's taking the processor, not an anti-virus tool.
When I disable googleapis scripts, everything returns to normal.
Completely agree with the 1st bit.
Every once in awhile, you need some ol' school company.
That Duke Trailer was absolutely fantastic. Completely lived up to it's name….and i am appalled at the lack of talk it's getting around here! Respect the elders!
Last edited by Lotusflow3r on 1/30/2011 6:50:00 PM
Thanks for the questions, everyone.
I've already picked one out to use and I'll address a few others (very briefly) in our upcoming segment.
For the record – and for future reference – it really can be just about any question; it doesn't have to be restricted to gaming.
Can Sony make a system so powerful, that even Sony can't develop for it?
LMAO world. Sounds like a philosophy question.
Is the video game market really one homogeneous mass market, or is it segmented by demographic and genre?
Are video game publishers right or wrong to ignore smaller genre and markets?
Oh, cool. So it's like an AskPSXE type feature… I like it.
OK Ben,
I want to know why we park in a drive-way, but we drive on a park-way? What's up with that?
What is the meaning of liiiife? lol.
I just finished the 3rd disc of Lost Odyssey. I really picked up the game because of all the praise from Ben and others on this site. So maybe you guys can help me.
(Stop me if you've heard this one.)
I just put in disc 4 only to have the system tell me it can't read it. Looking online, its a common problem due to the white sleave it comes in.
Any solutions? As I do not want to miss the ending of a sure to be classic RPG.(not sure if I really want to put it in boiling water.)
Well it seems putting the disc in boiling water does actually work. I was able to install it.
I want the NGP. I've owned two PSPs and never regretted it — though I've still not finished Final Fantasy Dissidia nor Peace Walker and my Street Fighter Alpha 3 disc got broke. 🙁 Since it's announcement I've been contemplating ditching my disc based library and going DL only from the PSN, but I dunno. I may be the only person in the world that liked UMDs.
Definitely getting Dragon Age II, though I've still yet to finish the first one at all. I'll get there eventually. I still need to finish FFXIII, too. Bleh.
Personal Gaming Update:
Still on my third play through of Dead Space 2, took a break for a while to refamiliarize myself with Super Street Fighter IV. I really hate Seth. Actually, I'm kinda hating the fact that the two big fighting games this generation (SFIV/SSFIV and Tekken 6) have SNK Boss Syndrome up the wahzoo. Azazel's worse than Seth, but I haven't played Tekken in forever.
Will be picking up Mass Effect 2 soon, and maybe Little Big Planet 2, I'm not sure about that one. Really, really, REALLY looking forward to Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
When is psx going to home?
What's the deal with the points in our profile?
How to we get those names next to our names?I remember I saw someone who didn't have administrator.
When will shenmue 3 come out?