CoD:MW3

Nice one Rob, check the batteries next time.

Tomb Raider

Didn't start off so great, All I saw was fire and pain and oh wow this is a really good reboot that isn't just a pain game. Then we turn into a proper game and it actually did seem like something I'd play. I would want to see more than just one level before comitting 60 bucks to it though.

EA Sports

Meh. I like the voice recognition ideas. The one that almost everyone is getting on board with.

Mass Effect 3

Wow. I approve of the voice commands, especially if it will let me micromanage my squadmates better.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Once again, voice commands. Those gestures are going to be a pain to learn though I'm sure. Hopefully there will be an option to use a controller for the game part of the game.

Kinect in Tom Clancy games

Can't wait for someone to walk through the room and get me spotted in Splinter Cell!

Bing

Give me Google, then we'll talk.

Live TV

Maybe, just maybe. DVR please?

UFC

I really don't care about UFC so lets just say I have no opinion

Gears of War 3

Exactly what I expected, except the setting. That ship was a damn cool idea.

Ryse

DO FRELLING WANT!!! Unless it does that movement thing that Star Wars Kinect is doing, then maybe hold off.

Halo Anniversary

Eh. I've got Halo for Xbox, so maybe if it's cheap and I feel like an achievement whore :D

Forza Motorsport 4

3 was cool, maybe once the price drops I'll give it a try.

Fable: The Journey

DO NOT WANT. Besides the fact that it's Fable, it's a cheap light gun game knockoff, but more complicated than it really needs to be.

Minecraft on Xbox 360

I played it, didn't like it, moved on. Won't playt this one. It needs an achievement that makes an autism joke though.

Disneyland

Those obvious child actors just ruined all of it.

Star Wars Kinect.

I like that it made his character off of him, don't think anyone noticed that or pointed it out. What I don't like is the on-rails movement, kinda funky collision detection and hand detection, and I'm not exactly sure where we are story wise. I'm sure it's some Pre-empire thing that nobody cares about though.

Once Upon A Monster

Nice to see Tim Schafer has his sense of humor. And the wonderful simulated family, so cute.

Kinect Labs

Actually pretty cool, especially if this tech pours over into other games.

Kinect Sports Season 2

Eh.

Dance Central 2

Now I remember why I only play on Easy.

Halo 4

Ugh. Why can't you guys just let sleeping dogs lie? Make a new character, a new story, maybe something all-covenant. There was hundreds of years of expanded universe stuff you could have made a game out of, let John sleep.

There is a reason I'm writing this, and it's Star Wars: Dark Forces. Steam tempted me with a Dark Forces pack on sale back around Christmas time, which I mainly picked up for Jedi Academy and Jedi Outcast, games I've heard numerous good things about. Well I still haven't got around to either, since I started playing Dark Forces after finding out Academy and Outcast were sequels to Dark Forces. I forgot how much I love the DOOM "kill everything in sight then hit the button" formula, and the fact that I'm a bit of a Star Wars nut doesn't hurt.

I'm still gonna shoot every single Gungan on sight though.

Hell, I'll go as far as saying its impressive to see a game that had cut scenes, voice acting, great music, and came out when a very young me was playing Sonic 2. The only real problem I have with it is that I have to run it in DOSBox, which hates me with a passion.

Am I getting attacked? Am I even moving? What the hell!

Besides that, Dark Forces has confirmed something I've been wondering. I remember games that I used to love as a kid, and I go back to them now and can't even stand to play. I've wondered whether these games from the early(er) days of gaming are good because of some sense of nostalgia, or were they really that good?

Answer: You're goddamn right they're that good

There's lots of companies making "best-of" collections for their older series with updated HD visuals, and it seems like a great idea. Still, it's an awkward position to be in, trying to decide which best sellers and lesser known gems get an HD makeover. For every Beyond Good & Evil & Team ICO game you get to see on shelves and online storefronts, you're going to miss great games that could use the makeover so they run properly on a modern OS or even on a console.

Protip for those trying to make this work in Windows XP or higher: Don't.

Obviously developers can't be bothered to remake every single game they've ever made 15 years after the fact, because they'd spend more time on remakes than they would on current-gen series and original titles. Not only that, but some people played these games when they first came out. I'm sure they may want to replay the game once just to remember the good old days, when milk was a nickel and blah blah blah, but if you want me to choose between Shadow of the Colossus, a game I've played before, and Heavy Rain, a game I've never played, I'll probably go for the new stuff. Remakes are great, but you need to offer up something new now and again so your fanbase doesn't get bored and go find someone else's game to buy. That's just me of course.

Even John is too embarrased to be in Madden games anymore

Just a thought.

My name is poordude1089, and I am a fanboy. I am hopelessly devoted to Xbox 360, Valve, Twisted Pixel, and others. I realize that my fanboyism is the cause of many problems, and an optimistic side of me feels I can change that. Another, pessimistic side of me, feels otherwise. I realized my fanboyism just today, sitting in a food court at the mall after leaving school. I opened gamespot and watched the tail end of the Microsoft press conference. When they announced the redesign of the 360, i damn near jumped out of my chair. it looked so amazing, and to have it smaller, quieter (i have damn near every game i play actively installed), and with a better hard drive and built in wireless n. thats when i realized it. I have more or less added any feature missing between my elite and the new model except the 250GB drive (which I have no need for as I dont own that much content, but the day is coming I'm sure), so why was I so excited over something I more or less already had? And thats when it hit me; f*kin fanboyism. as for Valve, well their Valve so I feel no shame in being a fanboy for them. I don't think anyone who knows much about valve will have a problem. Twisted Pixel, I don't think I can get too much flak for either because really how can you go wrong with a man made of 'splosions? I'll try to keep the negatives of my fanboyism (though I make no guarantees over my Wii bashing, as I never have) and I apologize in advance for any problems I may cause. Damn that new 360 looks sexy though...

You know how lots of big games, even XBLA games, get a month or two of hype before actually releasing (Splosion Man, Shadow Complex, Perfect Dark, and Trials HD come to mind)? Is it just me or did they just cram that month or two into a week with Snoopy: Flying Ace?

First they tease it at the tail end of a Spotlight video for the Reach Beta (correlation please?), then the game comes out, gets crazy posted everywhere, Avatar clothing (first for an Arcade game I think, could be wrong tho), and I think there's even a Game with Developers coming up soon. WHY WAIT SO LONG TO ANNOUNCE IT?

Also, does anyone read Peanuts anymore? For me, the last time I cared was when Charles Shultz died...10 years ago. Why now all of a sudden? Peanuts hasn't had that big of a game presence, or a presence in anything but holiday specials on local TV, and of course the comics. I just can't make sense of this. Is there a movie tie-in? Will we see the trailer on a Tuesday for the movie release that Saturday?

Just a thought.

I will say right now that while I did buy World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade expansion only a few days ago, I absolutely love the game. For those who can pay the fifteen dollars a month, this is probably the best time sink you're going to find anywhere. I can find a million and a half things to do ingame, and I haven't even reached a capital yet.

What I can't figure out with much certainty is why I enjoy it so much. 90% of the things I'm doing now take little to no skill, and are pretty mundane on paper. Go here, kill 8 lions, then come back for a reward. Things that I'd shudder at any other MMO, let alone a P2P MMO, having me do. So why do I enjoy it so much? My best guess is that rather than slaying giant rats I'm slaying giant rat-like creatures that aren't actually rats. For the first hour after creating my Draenei Paladin, I hit moths with a hammer for chrissake! And I enjoyed every second of it!! It just makes no sense to me.

Those 11 Million players Blizzard loves to boast must all be Level 80s, though, as the starting area I'm in is very sparse in players. True the starting area I'm in is only for my race, but still. During a quest that took me through a dungeon I saw 4 other players, only one was Draenei, there were 2 Gnomes roaming about and an ORC! For those that need a reference to why this is a problem, the Orcs (this one had just started playing mind you) start on the complete other end of Azeroth. I mean like hundreds of miles of walking or swimming he did to get there. WHY!?!

Still, the game is amazingly addictive, and really sticks out as one of my favorites in a long time. Certainly better than the dead horse that is Guild Wars. I'm looking into a guild that I can raid dungeons with once I level up some more, etc. so any other players with advice would be welcome. I play on Tanaris under the name Akaan, but I'll be starting a new character on Twisting Nether soon probably.

Finally, somebody did it!

Common Sense Media is a site which has extensively catalogued content in film, gaming, and various other forms of media to help parents figure out wether little Timmy really isn't old enough to play his first T rated game. Now I don't have to explain the ESRB labels out my ass, and I have reason enough to execute on sight any parent who doesn't allow a child to play an M rated game until the very moment he/she turns 18 (becuase the law says you have to be 18 and I'm always right, they say when I point out the nice 17+ part of the rating label). A few of my cousins are gamers, and when their parents come to me for suggestions, the Mature rating deters 90% of my suggestions for a 16-year-old, just like T turns away parents of 12-year-olds.

I pray that this will lead parents of younger children to an even better practice; researching these things so aunts and uncles don't throw a 5 dollar Wii game under the tree when they own a PS3. Also, maybe this will be the last bit of push parents need to keep the 10-year-old population of Xbox Live in Rock Band and out of Modern Warfare 2. I CAN DREAM DAMMIT!!

Seriously though, MS needs to add Puberty to the next mandatory update...

Just a Thought

You put enough people in a room and give them a something, they'll find an argument in it. And people love their arguments. Whether the bub and bob shenanigans or this.

Mario better win or I lose all faith in the gaming world. This is a trifle depressing how a nub like Gordon can beat out the King that Mario is.

bullion2

I know I took part in the fanboy activities. My own hatred of Nintendo is something I try to keep in check, even if third-party Wii games are reaching a level of fail that reminds me of Atari in 1982. But still, I know Nintendo fanboys will fight tooth and nail for them, whether they're the runner-up last gen or the financial victor this gen, and they'll charge out with their all-caps superiority like a bull. And when the bull finally had it's horns smacked off by a crowbar from left field, all they can do now is slink back to wherever they came from, clutching their wiimotes and thinking about which Zelda game they're going to play when they get there.

Think about it though. Who always wins these things? The popular one. If Mario had won, this contest would be more like a high school prom than what it's meant to be. I approached this as who-would-win-in-a-fight, provided that some characters skills were handicapped, along with which games I liked the most. Snake got to the finals and lost by a close margin to Master Chief. Not only was it great to not see Link v Mario, it was great to see someone I completely never expected take the prize (Gordon was set for me to lose to Snake after beating Yoshi).

I was quite worried seeing b come in and have their way with the forums and competition. I occasionally visit the site, and something original and worth more than 5 seconds of existence is hard to come by. It's really just the same "you laugh you lose" and "report in" threads over and over and over and over and over again. As much as these forums can annoy at times, I've grown to enjoy it, and I don't want to see it degrade to that. I'm glad that /b/lackup was not involved. at least not that much

I'm pretty sure Gamespot will not be doing this again (I wouldn't) for a good long time. And if they do, they'll hopefully bring it up when the tech is a bit more sophistocated to avoid cheaters (perhaps allow one vote per MAC Address), and perhaps something more than montage videos for the characters.

Just a thought.

Judging from the popularity of Xbox Live Marketplace & Steam, it's clear that Digital Distribution is here to stay. I'm very much a fan of it. Financially, it's a great idea, as a small-time developer can take the budget they were saving for distribution & improve their game further before posting it online for 10 bucks a pop, instantly reaching over 30 million gamers if I remember the numbers correctly. Also, developers can add to the experience of their game months after the initial release without having to print new discs (or, unfortunately, they can make you pay to unlock things you already have). Amazingly enough, cutting costs provided the industry with a great selling point as well. "What's that? You want to play Geometry Wars? Your hard drive broke & the replacement doesn't have it? Here's a replacement copy for the low low price of free!" "What's that? Wanna play Portal on your new computer but can't find the install discs? Just download the game from Steam!" You get the idea. It's clear that the gaming industry is adopting this policy, as spending less on making discs means more spent for development time or less time till the game starts making a profit, but it's rare that what's good for the business is good for the consumer as well.

Just a Thought

I've been sitting here at the computer, going back and forth with Blizzard tech support trying to get Starcraft running on a laptop running Windows 7 (a taxing challenge in and of itself), and looking at various posts on various boards here on GS. One thing I've noticed ever since I regularly began posting on these boards is the monstrous amounts of hate given to popular, well known games such as Call of Duty, Halo, and the recently released Batman: Arkham Asylum. I'm currently playing through Arkham & am (still) on my Veteran run through CoD4, and I would have no problem if I were forced to stay on a desert island for a year with only access to these games. Now I'm not so stupid as to believe that these games do not have flaws. CoD takes a good long time to learn, and a day or two away from it and I'm off my game to a miserable degree. As for Arkham, it does tease you with various characters who would make amazing boss fights SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER like Harley Quinn, yet it has made me fight Scarecrow twice now SPOILERISOVER but that doesn't make it a bad game, nor does it deserve the things I've heard people say about it. I live next door to a friend of mine who thinks like this. Any time I make mention of Call of Duty, he does what I can only describe as the sound a pitbull would make if you trained it to bark "COD4" over and over again. You'd be surprised how annoying that gets after about a week of AAAH COD4 COD4 COD4 COD4!!!! in your ear every ten minutes, but this is neither here nor there. I've learned to ignore his opinions about any game made after 1997, as his gaming tastes consist of anything with nostalgia value or Resident Evil (including the prettied up version of 4 moved to Africa to upset the lawsuit types & get them free publicity) but I can't seem to get away from those who think like him on GS forums. All I ever see anymore on Xbox 360 is about how bad Call of Duty or Halo or Oblivion or Fallout or any other game with a decent sized fanbase is, as if they think hating these games will give them some form of cred with their fellow gamer. And in 30 minutes of browsing, I cannot find one concrete reason that any of these games are bad other than they didn't like something that someone else could like. And I don't mean how someone could like how you could glitch all over the place for easy kills, I mean how you pick off henchman in Batman rather than attack them directly when you've got a cape and a mask and they have automatic weapons. You're Batman, messing with them from the shadows where you can't be seen is what Batman does. If you'd rather run up to hordes of enemies and kill them all with little to no fuss, then you're playing the wrong game, and the fault is on you. All I'm saying here is, before you complain about how bad something is, think if someone if what you don't like is what makes the game unique (Fallout's setting & Karma system, Batman's stealthy gameplay, etc.) if the answer is yes, quit complaining and go buy an Atari 2600 & play a "good" game like River Raid. Alone.

Just a thought

I'd like to congratulate Activision for making me lose all faith in the American consumer. I went to my local Gamestop and found over 15 sequels published by Activision, 6 of which were Guitar Hero related, Hanging around for 30 minutes talking with the guy at the counter, I watched 8 of those games be sold, and 3 traded in. For every genuinely good game in a franchise they release (GH:WT or CoD4) they have to supplement it with a half-assed redux (GH: Van Halen or CoD:WaW) I told the guy about this and he asked me if I wanted to pre-order Tony Hawk Ride. It seems like every year we get a new Call of Duty and Tony Hawk game wether we want it or not, and Joe Dumbass goes in and buys the same experience he had last year, passing up 3 better games he could have for the same price. This news that they've made over 1 Billion dollars this quarter only makes the pain worse. They're giving EA Tiburon run for their money, cranking out Madden game after Madden game year after year like clockwork. And since they obtained RedOctane they've realized that peripherals are an even better way to cash in on people. Just look at what Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk have become. I won't be surprised in 2 years when they make a new Guitar and Skateboard controller, rendering the old one obsolete and making you pay 300 dollars to play 2 of their new games. I can appreciate that some people just don't like changes, want to stick to the same games they enjoy, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But at the same time, don't put a Guitar Hero game out every 3 months and pressure us into buying it because "I've already got all the other games in the series, and this one will have X song" Rock Band has X Y and Z song, as well as W, and you can buy just the ones you want for 2 bucks apiece instead of paying 60 bucks for a disc of 50 songs, only 10 of which you like, but you'll have to wade through the other 40 to play those ones.

Just a thought