Ben-DutkaWell, obviously, it was the start of a new era for PSXE this week. We're happy it has begun. 🙂
Of COURSE you lost fans with DAII
I still say Dragon Age II is a great game, but the fact that it was sub-elite bugged me, and the fact that it lacked standard hardcore role-playing elements bugged me even more. One town, a complete lack of exploration, and we can only fully equip the lead character, which we also can't build from the ground up. The thing that confuses the hell out of me is why it was ever done in the first place. Why ? BioWare knows RPGs. They know what the fans want. I'm sure they do. I'm just desperately trying to figure out how these design ideas succeeded…how in God's name did all these new features – or lack thereof – get approved?
How could they not know they'll be irritating their fans ? It's just too bizarre. I can't figure it out at all. One could make the argument that they wanted to make a more "mainstream" game, but Dragon Age is very clearly for the hardcore, for the niche RPG lovers. Nobody in the mainstream/casual group will touch it, and a few more "action-y" elements won't change their minds. So why compromise the winning formula? I don't get it.
Yeah, you better keep Gears on the 360
Because it may be the last Xbox exclusive left that I care about. CliffyB says PlayStation 3 fans have "zero chance" of getting Gears of War and I'm just fine with that. If it went multiplatform, I'd probably ditch the 360 entirely. Well, I would if we found out the next Alan Wake would be on the PS3. As it is, the 360 gathers a sh** ton of dust; I have little to no reason to touch it, so by all means, let Microsoft keep Gears . As time goes on this generation, I have to question the reason to even own a 360; it seems so…superfluous at this point. Gears is enough of a reason for me to keep it, but other than that…
That being said, I'm sure I'll end up with the next Xbox, just because I really like having two platforms each generation. Eventually, one platform typically ends up being the dominant one in my entertainment center; a long time ago, that used to be something with "Nintendo" on the box. But for the past three generations, it has never been Nintendo and really, it has never really been close…
Personal gaming update
People can bi*** and whine all they want; Duke Nukem Forever blew. I wasn't about to torture myself any further. Dungeon Siege III was good, though, and I'm glad to finally have a decent old-school dungeon-crawler this generation. I also have to get going on F.E.A.R. 3 for next week and I have high expectations for that one. However, that's all work-related; I really just want to get back to inFamous 2 . That game rules and it's painful to be away from it for so long!
And yes, the PSX Home Show is here and we hope you've seen it. Don't worry, more are coming – Episode 2 might be up for this Thursday – and as I said earlier , we're making that PSXE party a routine thing for every debut of a new show. We'll be sure to keep you informed right here, and don't forget about the possibility of more giveaways. Maybe a "bring a friend to the PSXE Show, and be entered to win" deal…
But anyway, hope everyone is satisfied and at least a little excited for the future. 🙂
Actually, Excelsior, you could argue that Microsoft was hacked to a larger extent.
SOE experienced a few stolen card numbers, but that isn't PSN and they were numbers from a long time ago. Most of them are expired, in fact. PSN was fudged with and Sony took it offline almost immediately. However, PSN accounts themselves were never hacked and no one lost credit card info, etc. etc. And Credit Card Companies have acknowledged this. Also, the US government says Sony handled it perfectly and everyone else should follow their example.
Microsoft, on the other hand, while Live was only taken offline once for two weeks during a holiday season in 2007, has had -actual- accounts and financial info stolen. If you ask me, that indicates that hackers actually took customer info which to me is "to a greater extent" than Sony was hacked. Don't forget, most of Sony's downtime was self-imposed to provide a better overall product.
I'm just not jiving with Excelsior's arguments. Interesting enough, Excelsior, but I think perception plays too big a role in this one. To me, a hacked personal account is greater than a DDOS attack, for example.
Last edited by Underdog15 on 6/20/2011 12:28:17 PM
*claps for PSXE* Where's the new people at?
Haven't gotten around to Dragon Age yet. For some reason I just keep forgetting I have it, but with no new game purchases between now and Resistance, unless Deus Ex excites me yet more, I may just be able to get to it.
As I've said, the only reasons that I'd buy a 360 are for Gears and Alan Wake. With the sequel to the latter apparently not being published by Microsoft, it only makes me wonder why people keep supporting the 360. It has Forza, a second rate simulator, though slightly better game than GT. Halo, I personally think, is nothing special. But why would anyone pay full price for the Anniversary when the only real change is a graphical boost. The same may be said for the Classics HD sets, but they have more than one game and sell for halfprice. And Kinect… heh.
PU:
Still reading Emma, and loving it, though Emma's actually quite annoying at times.
Playing inFamous 2 at long last and LOVING IT! I'm blinded, but it is simply a fantastic game on every account. Very highly rated, and I can't wait to blitz it then go back to evil both back-to-back.
Playing KZ: Liberation on the PSP. It's kinda blah, but the graphics are good. Still, can't complain at $6.
Thanks Ben for putting my L.A. Noire review up so quickly, I was expecting to wait a day as usual. And, I'm done.
I tried to play Liberation too, I gave up after a few minutes, lol. Went back to Crimson Gem Saga.
It does get better World. Or maybe I've just gotten more used to it…
I don't understand Bioware's motives either concerning the direction of DA2. I was really wanting to become more involved with this franchise but the negativity, among a few other things, has warded me away. Which is fine, there's plenty of great games and other RPG's for me to play.
So Duke Nukem was fail to the king 😉 Can't say I'm too surprised. My bro seemed to like it well enough, though, he did play it on PC, which handles itself marginally better, particularly in loading. I do know for myself I wont be playing or trying it.
As for Gears of War, whatever, Cliffy. I think you're being foolish to place all your eggs in MS's basket. Whether MS is treating you right, or not, there'd be big profit potential to place the 3 games on one BD and reap the sales of an easy conversion with the already in place UE3 PS3 engine. BUt I'm sure MS has padded your wallet nicely, as I don't see any other conclusion making more sense than that.
I'll also be on board with the Next-Box and PS4. Disclaimer: If the Next-Box is a gimmicky Kinect centric, bing talking, RRoD machine I may just hold out for the PS4. Wait and see. And the Wii U is out of the question. I romanticized the notion of one for a short time. But no more.
PGU: So been playing tons of Infamous 2. I've done a lot. With 74% trophy completion and only a hard play through with evil Cole holding me back from the Platinum at this point. Of the games I've played this year, Infamous 2 is in there with the top 3 most enjoyed.
I snagged FF13 from AMazon last night for 16.99 new, a free shipping with the book my wife got. I beat the game already but there's a lot I wanted to do yet. I read a FF13-2 feature in Game Informer. The new game sounds promising and I just can't get enough of Square's masterful art design. The series nearly sells me alone with it.
although i would like to see gears appear on the ps3 i understand why it won't. ms will market the hell out of gears3 for epic. that's a great deal for epic. i would not be surprised if it sells 10 million copies.
Gears 3 won't sell 10 million. You don't think Ice T is that popular do you? =p
At this point in the game, I don't think Gears on PS3 really matters, seeing that there's so many hot games to fill everyone's time today on the PS3 alone.
Gears would've been nice for PS3 gamers during the dryer slower '06 – '07 era, but for the coming months and years I'm sure it'd be regarded as a peripherally desired game by those who were at one time hopeful of a PS3 side release.
But if it did release in the coming year or two, I suppose guys looking for a reason to offload their Xbox would have one if Gears was their only attachment to the box.
Playing as evil Cole is so much fun. Fire striking enemies, than bioleeching the last man standing right off the knockdown, giving you temp unlimited charge, then decimating large enemies with a furious barrage of hell-fire rockets, never gets old.
maybe 10 million is reaching. but i think it's possible considering that gear of war 2 sold over 7 million copies back when there were a lot less 360's. it's a powerful 360 exclusive that has a lot of fans.
I started playing as evil too Master Shams.
I have to say I feel a bit uncomfortable thumping innocents with my Amp for exp points and a trophy.
The plot changes are a bit interesting, though.
Like how Kuo responds to you having blown up the village in the bayou.
@excelsior
It could happen. But I do have my doubts.
would anyone else consider duke the let down of the generation or am i just being over dramatic ?
Oh, it's easily the biggest disappointment of the generation. WAY bigger than Haze.
from what i read they just released the game that was being made years ago instead of making the game their own.
Just depends on who you are I suppose. I never cared for Duke so I had no expectations about DNF. Resident Evil 5 was my biggest disappointment of this generation.
NOOO! Resi 5 was my first this-generation title! I loved that game so much..YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!
haha i liked RE5 as a straight up action game (not so much as a RE game) it was a huge let down compared to RE4 but thats considered 1 of the greatest game of all time so wasn't easy to live up to that. hopefully RE6 gets back towards what made RE4 ( & all the old school RE games) so amazing. ( night time. all alone. hell dogs jumping out of nowhere.)
Last edited by TheCanadianGuy on 6/19/2011 12:24:21 AM
I could see how people could like RE5 if they accept it for just an action game but as a long time Resident Evil fan, since the first game on PS1, it was such a horrid Resident Evil. Capcom killed the franchise with that single installment.
Well, ya see I never liked resident evil..
Once I went down my mom's friends place, he was playing Resi 1. Bearing in mind I was 5 or so. Okay so he was playing the bit where he's in a room, with nothing but a bed and a wardrobe. He checks the room, nothing. Turns around and about to walk out…AND A FREAKIN ZOMBIE JUMPS OUT OF THE WARDROBE!!! I ran away and hid behind the sofa; I swear I was mentally scarred for life. 😛
BTW jawk what was your favorite RE game ? i'm a longtime fan to RE2 is my favorite. i was a little young to know how to play in 98 but i remember being scared $hitless watching my cousins play. it was also the first game i ever finished by my self few years later.
Last edited by TheCanadianGuy on 6/19/2011 10:01:47 AM
2 and 4 are my personal favorites.
I liked RE5 a lot, but I know it isn't the RE game I really wanted.
I never played RE1. *cries*
Code Veronica I think was my favorite of the 'tank controlled' RE games. RE4 is great too. =>.>=
If you have a Gamecube or a Wii the remake of the original Resider Evil is a must play.
Oh, I have played the GC remake (although I don't remember it much), just not the original on PS1. My bad. Hee hee =)
Gotcha, if you played and liked the remake there really is no need to play the PS1 version.
2.3.4 are my favs i don't like any of the spinoffs especially the outbreak games those were god awful.
re5 was a big letdown for me, too. about the only part of that game i enjoyed was the boss fight with u83. i remember when my friends 7yr old nephew asked me why are the zombies riding motorcycles. that made me luagh, and its a pretty good question. re5 is not a terrible game, but it lost a lot of feel of past re games.
i loved re2, and re4 the most. re3 and code veronica were pretty good, too. code veronica had some brutal sections. i had to restart my game becuase i saved at a terrible time with low health. that part where steve burnside mutates and runs after you with that giant axe was tough. i couple of hits and you are dead. thank god i had enough health items. also that section with moths that keep respawning was tough becuase they could poison you. you had to backtrack through that area a lot. the best thing to do is run for your life and hope you don't get poisoned.
ah, re evil. so many great times.
Everything you said about Dragon Age 2 was pitch-perfect. I bet DA2's worsening is from the desire to make it more like Mass Effect, and also because the developement time was kinda short.
With Gears the only thing I want to do is look at it because it's so pretty, but I don't want to play it.
I'm interested in Dungeon Siege 3. So many games are on the horizon though, it'll be hard to commit to a purchase. I've been playing lots of Infamous 2 (love the New Orleans lookin city!!!) and also Final Fantasy IX on PSP (I could kick myself in the head for not playing these back in the day).
I was thinking about picking up 1 or 2 more PSX classics and about Grandia and Legend of Mana in particular. I was curious what people thought of those two or any others they might recommend.
Thanks,
Claire =^.^=
Grandia is a classic, it's a bit rough around the edges and a tad juvenile in tone but I had to buy it and it is good fun with a cool old battle system. Looks best on PSP of course. Grandia 2 and 3 are great too, I'd kill for a trilogy in HD. Never played Mana but Suikoden is pretty good, but a bit stiff compared to others in the series.
If I had to pick 2, it would be Grandia and Xenogears.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/18/2011 10:41:57 PM
Never played LoM?!
Legend of Mana quite possibly features the most amazing hand-drawn artistry you'll ever see in a game. The gameplay itself wasn't too fantastic, IMO, but the beauty of that colorful 2D world is more than enough to warrant a look. 🙂
Grandia is technically a better overall game, though.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 6/18/2011 10:47:19 PM
Thanks, I appreciate it. Yah, I have Xenogears already but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to play it yet, seems a little intimidating.
I forgot to ask, what about Parasite Eve? =D
PE is super fun. A little different, but still great. Hybrid turn-based and real-time with an interesting story.
I like PE, it's sort of like survival horror meets JRPG. I never get far though, it's wicked easy to die.
Parasite Eve is one of my favorite PS1 RPG's even to this day. It's definitely worth getting.
Thx! I'll prolly just get all three. =)
Well, my week has simply been lots and lots and lots and lots of inFamous 2. The game is simply amazing!
I will also look into DS3 when there is a price drop because I really enjoyed Champions back in the day.
Also sorta sad I couldn't go to the PSXE show, my internet usage about to go over. I will try valiantly to go some time in the future though.
On another subject, another reason DAII lost some fans may have something to do with the story. A lot of people I know that played DAO played simply because they enjoyed the story so much (and in some cases of most women, Alistair) Many of them were turned off by the story of DAII.
Why on earth would anyone who enjoyed gathering allies from all races across a big map to save the world from a vast horde of evil monsters be disappointed by a political scuffle inside a single city?
</sarcasm>
Not to mention that "Origins" (the title, not the actual game) suggests that the other DA games would follow the same characters, ME-style. DA2 seems like an offshoot rather than a true sequel.
The unoriginal title (i.e., no subtitle) is the first clue that Bioware weren't doing their best work.
R:FOM > R2
Last edited by Fane1024 on 6/19/2011 6:56:52 AM
It's been a nonstop inFamous 2 fest for me since I got back from California. About to complete my first play through as good Cole. Just trophy hunting as much as I can right now. Few more side missions and one more Blast Core to go and I'm done. I might go back and finish up the Evil game I started for inFamous before I start a new game as Evil Cole in 2. That game is so addicting. inFamous is by far my favorite open world franchise and inFamous 2 is my favorite game this year so far. I really can't get enough of this game. I really hope they are planning a third installment.
…God yes… INFAMOUS 3!!! XD
I wonder where it would take place. =>.>=
@Jawknee, after you beat inFamous 2, I want to hear your thoughts on how they could continue the story into a third installment. The endings feel much more… definitive, than did those of the first installment. I've been trying to figure it out for a couple of days now.
For sure. Add me if you want. I'll send you a message when I'm done. 🙂
Jawknee1.
San Franciso style city Claire. Lots of hills, plenty of street cars, and a cable grinding tour across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Good idea World. I was thinking Southern California but San Fran would probably be better.
But based on the ending (good), how can they make a third one?…But I hope they do because Infamous 2 is my GOTY so far since ME2 came out last year.
Really FM, are you trying to ruin it for other people?
True that, FM23. What an ending!
Who would've thought Beast was Cole MacGrath's father.
*a complete fabrication of actual Infamous 2 events*
LOL! nice save Temji. 😉
I'll try not to spoil anything, but if you pay closer attention to the very last second of the ending you'll see how.
Yup, my buddy just mentioned that World. I'll have to go back and watch the final cutscene again.
To be honest, after reading all the negative feedback about dnf, I havnt even thought about playing it at all.
Maybe ill snag it up some odd months down the line when its a 20 dollar game at wally world.
I can't wait forthe next psxe show. I keep going into the theater to see if any of you guys are in, to meet you, but so far that's a negative. So ill just wait for the next show.
Oh and a question ben, since you said there may be a bring a friend type give away, would the friend actually have to go to the theater with you? If so, I'm not gonna be able to take my girl to the psxe show since we've only got the one ps3. Wich would mean id have to introduce some of my buddies to the psxe show, but their all hard up on codblops and bc2 to be bothered with anything else. So I was jut curious.
Anyways, PGU: lost my save data for wkc, so had to start over again…
But that's fine, I'm just gonna grind the 4 rebirths and get to (hopefully) gr 8. That way I won't be as far from gr20 in wkc as it would be from gr0. Read it was like 18+mil from 0 to 20. And I guess spear users got screwed over, as the arc knights will probably be the tanks (mostlikely) in quests, and spear damage got reduced a lot taking the dps from spears.
So, I think ill be doing short sword dual weild in wkc2. Maybe weild some knives so I look like a twin blade from .hack. that would be sweet.