Maruku

I have to agree completely with this. I think it is the biggest fault of this game and the biggest reason so many people stop playing it. Narratives are character-driven and all of the characters just seem too bland. We have all these events going on but the character interaction/involvement just doesn't feel right. The characters' personalities and motives are always changing for weird and strange reasons. Like that part where Light randomly has a revelation about the Fal'Cie in the sewer system. It made no sense to me and it did nothing to really captivate me as an audience. She tries explaining it with some monologue but it still does very little to add to her or the story, in my opinion. This game's major fault is just bad storytelling. Everything else in the game is pretty solid. Unfortunately, a huge part of RPG's (and games that go beyond 10 hours of gameplay) is storyline and the ability to keep the gamer interested.

I got the game on PS3 for $30 from a K-Mart sale. After playing it for roughly 22 hours, I think I'm just going to stop. Initially, I was captivated by the pretty CGI, the new battle system, and the excellent voice acting (on some of the characters) and now I'm just bored. The storyline had me captivated until I fought the Sanctum guy (Dysley or something?) on that gigantic ship and the game just bored me after that. I just feel like the game is dragging on and on with not enough of an interesting story to want to keep playing. It seems like they've introduced me to all of the gameplay mechanics and I'm stuck spending another 20 hours with them and then a couple of more plot twists, etc. It's not that I don't enjoy linear action games (RPG in this case), but I really just don't feel the desire to keep playing at this point. I blame this primarily on the storyline. There was nothing gripping me after the fight against Dysley even though that's supposed to be a turning point in the game's storyline. For a game that has so many cinematic sequences, I think they should have focused more on the "Screenplay", cinematography and storyline. The majority of cut scenes move way too quickly and it's hard to even tell what's going on (kind of like District 9 and all the other steadicam movies out there). I dunno, the game has just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm kind of pissed that I spent 20 hours on it at this point. Then again, I haven't enjoyed a Final Fantasy game since 10.

I would check out the Canon cameras. They have the HV series for relatively cheap and you can get some aweeeesome footage from it. It shoots full 1080p and can even shoot 24 fps if you want that nice film look. Here's a quickly done student short my buddy and I did with a Canon HV30. It's got pretty beast quality considering it's only, like $500 now. Youtube puts it in 1080p so the camera shoots high quality video. Granted, this is a miniDV camera, but I know they make a HDD equivalent, I just can't remember which series it is.

as a kid, I found the quick pace of old games to be more fitting of my childish attention span. Also, I prefer the unrealistic looks of everything back then. It really put me into this fantasy world where I could imagine so many things. I would always think "man, what's beyond that ocean" in Zelda or "man I bet there's an extra, hidden, world in Mario 3" just because you could imagine these crazy scenarios. That really kept me playing the game. From there, it was mostly memorization. By the time I had beaten Ninja Gaiden, I had every single level memorized down to exactly when I would jump and slash. I could beat the game in 20-30 minutes without a continue and that was almost all memorization. Personally, games nowadays don't hold my attention, part of that is 'cause of my busy schedule, but it's just not as fun to me because everything resembles reality now. Physics and stuff are cool in a game, but I just can't find myself getting immersed in the world anymore. Games like Shadow of the Colossus are the exception though; definitely sweet. Plus, like one previous poster mentioned, there were no sweet gadgets back then and no internet. Once the sun went down and you couldn't go skateboard, ride your bike, and cause mischief, you were like "aww man... time to play some Solar Jetman" (which if anybody has been there, knows that is like punching yourself in the face with difficulty). I miss the good ol' days haha.

Sweet, this is awesome. I use the Release Candidate for my job (IT stuff) and so far it's the best Windows I've used to date. I liked Vista but it had that huge rocky period before SP 1 came out. I have had absolutely no issues whatsoever with the system yet. It runs games fine, it runs, 3D modeling software from years back. It runs every extremely well and actually more efficiently than previous versions. I can't wait to get the retail version for my home computer . As for the audio options somebody asked about; unfortunately they're just about the same as they are in Vista Sorry.

hmm... my buddy had the first one and I couldn't stand playing the drums because of how awkward it felt compared to my normal set... I think that the upgraded set with the crashes on it will do a lot of justice. Those pads look very bouncy and quiet and it looks like it will feel much more like a normal kit. The backwards compatibility is an awesome idea. Gotta love this company for really listening to everyone's feedback... that's a great quality in an industry that, IMO, is losing it's touch. Rage Against the Machine, Smashing Pumpkins, and Dream Theater? I just might have to hop on this. Also rumored that Hyper Music by Muse is gonna be on there. This is shaping up to be a seriously beastly game.

Wow... devastating. You've got a lot to live for, man, you gotta put whatever strength you've got into your recovery. Like DJP, I don't pray, but I can encourage a good recovery and a positive outcome. Hope you come out of this so you can continue to grace everyone here with your presence and your art. Best of luck to you, Jordan, hope you get better.

hmm, they could also be winning because they are absolutely amazing... good music gets good credit... the fact that they do constantly win because of their fanbase is a testament to that. Yes it is partially a popularity contest, but in this day and age, popularity has become a part of music. Grats to Zircon and SGX though... absolutely love your guys' work. Looking forward to your next songs.

I know the God mode code for Turok 2 was "bewareoblivionisathand" which is actually "Beware Oblivion is at hand". I don't remember the original Turok one though =(

I agree with everything he said except the Rage Against the Machine part. Putting my musical preference aside, I think he was spot on. I have played games since I was 3 years old and I got my SNES with Mariokart and 2 controllers when I was 5 for Christmas. I grew up playing NES, SNES, and Genesis and even Playstation, Saturn, and N64. I have yet to see a game within the last 5 years provide me with as much fun as I had when playing a game like Zombies Ate my Neighbors. The closest thing I got was Resident Evil 4. Anymore , it is sickening to see the amount of corporate bullshit that goes into games nowadays. Just like the movie or the music industry anymore, if it can't sell to a specific audience, the distributor wants nothing to do with it. Creative games are almost non-existent. I hardly even play video games anymore but if I do, they are online games like Gunbound or Ragnarok Online or Team Fortress 2. It makes me sad too because games were such a big part of my life growing up and now it just pains me to even walk into a game store that isn't BRE Software.

I will definitely buy this, I can't wait. Every piece of work you create is amazing and I have no doubt that this will not fail to impress me. I will try and give you as much money as I can to see that you get the reward that you deserve for all of your great music. I sure hope you can land a good recording or distribution deal in your future because you definitely deserve it for having such a unique, electronic, creative, and emotional sound. I am gonna start downloading this ASAP, Keep up the good work, SGX. I hope this album is a great success.

I am a fan of Flyleaf, more mainstream, I know, but it's still pretty sick. More of a...I dunno how to describe it, it has some screaming but I dunno if that's your thing. She isn't exactly the best vocalist, she sounds cracked out half the time, but the music is pretty much in your face, and I dig that.

I got TF2 the day it came out and I have been playing it nonstop with my friends. The game is downright amazing. The ONLY flaw right now is the respawn timer. The game is still very fast paced and is full of devastation, a respawn timer does not work at all for the game and I really hope they will get rid of it in the final version. The only classes I can really complain about being overpowered are scouts and spies but they still have their flaws that make them a little balanced. Regardless, the game is amazing and once you play long enough, Scouts and Spies really aren't a huge problem for you. TFC was the first online game I ever played and I have been waiting for this sequel for years. Naturally, the game did not disappoint, it is a complete breath of fresh air from the graphics right down to the game mechanics and the class based system. I have never played a FPS game with a dedicated healing class that actually gets amazing benefits from healing. The game is really team based now so it makes it very fun. Anyways, back to playing TF2, peace it.

I didn't cry when Aeris died, but I was pretty young when I beat FF7 so maybe I was just stupid or something. The only games I have cried at are Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, and MGS3. Chrono Trigger made me cry because I didn't want the game to be over and the ending song is pure genius and hits you hard. MGS3 makes me cry every time I finish it. I can't help myself no matter how many times I have seen it, I still cry.

Paul Oakenfold - Ready Steady Go