Cerrax

I've always wanted to try this. It would be quite a challenge. I'm thinking about starting up LDJ in Visual Boy Advance and recording some stuff. Or maybe try something with Logic's ES1 or ESP synth. Maybe even get crazy and go the Sega Genesis route and use the EFM1. You could even get really creative and load a single sample into a sampler and use that.

I remember my friend got ZOE1 just for the MGS2 demo. The first time we started up the game and saw the opening video it blew us away. It was so damn fast and fluid. Instantly fell in love with it. I still think ZOE1 had better multiplayer than 2. The second game's multiplayer felt too slow compared to original.

I would literally geek out so bad if this was ZOE3. I've been dying for a sequel. 2nd Runner was friggin awesome.

I haven't seen this yet, but I do have to agree that giving the Terminators more personality and morality bothers me. I liked it when the people were the focus of the story and the Terminators were more or less just a plot device and/or one-dimensional antagonist/protector. I feel like T2 went far enough into the "Terminators have a conscience" idea. T3 touched on it again (and honestly T3 was just a remake of T2 with an older John Connor and Judgement Day actually happening). The TV show really bothers me because it completely dismantles the cannon established in T3. Plus as hot and awesome as Summer Glau is, I hate her character (Cameron) and that comes back to the whole "Terminators have personality/conscience" thing. I just hope it isn't as bad as T3. From what I have read it sounds like it isn't that bad, but I'll probably have issues with the whole "Terminator thinks he's human" idea.

It depends on the game, but mostly A. All of Bethesda's games (Elder Scrolls, Fallout 3, etc.) I rarely have a plan that doesn't involve brutally murdering everyone. I can't play games like MGS because I get too impatient and just end up going Rambo and getting shot. Halo kind of forces me to be a little less reckless, but I still spend too much time dodging bullets and taking damage while I'm slaughtering everyone. Even in Super Smash Bros I'm pretty damn aggressive, I don't spend too much time evading.

I can see where Lotd2242 is coming from. There are many franchises in video games, movies, and TV that have been "rebooted" and "remade" that I personally have hated regardless of the artistic merit of the work or the growth of the fanbase. I'm pretty unimpressed by most movies these days and while Star Trek certainly didn't blow me out of my chair, I can't say I hated it. There definitely scenes I will be recollecting with friends about and I didn't walk out of the theatre thinking it was absolutely awful. But I also didn't find it as thought provoking and as carefully planned as other Star Trek movies. It felt kind of thrown together. I know that this movie was meant to back off the smarty-tarty high horse that some people view Star Trek movies as, but it just didn't feel like Star Trek. It felt more like Star Wars mixed with a little Titan AE and sprinkled with Star Trek references. Which makes it both incredibly enjoyable and quite disappointing at the same time. Plus the saying goes, nothing is meant to last. Trekkies, you had your fun. Now its time for a different crowd to go where no man has gone before.

That's the first J J Abrams movie I've seen.

I swear to god if I see another lens flare I'm going to shoot J J Abrams in the face.

Truth. XBox 360 D-Pad is quite teh suk. Sony and Nintendo have always had better D-Pads.

I know its not out yet, but Brutal Legend looks to be equal parts of epic and kick-ass metal.

Maximo: Ghosts to Glory & Maximo vs the Army of Zin (PS2) A sort-of spinoff/spiritual sequel to Ghost n Goblins. Its a 3-D interpretation with a knight trolling a haunted kingdom for his lost love who eventually ends up in his heart-covered boxer shorts. The sequel, Army of Zin, is equally satisfying and adds some new elements into the mix. Both very enjoyable old-school type games. Mischief Makers (N64) A genius robotics professor is kidnapped and his robotic maid Marina goes on a quest to save him. The main gameplay revolves around grabbing and throwing obstacles, enemies, just about everything you can. Insanely simple at first but its is incredibly fun and gets pretty tough at some points. Those are the two that come to mind immediately. I'm so glad others recognize these gems.

PS3 has an interesting place in this generation of consoles. PS3 can play PS1 games but not PS2 PS3 has very little in terms of exclusive titles (Little Big Planet, MGS4). Former exclusives like Final Fantasy, GTA, and Devil May Cry are now on XBox 360. PS3 games consistently have less or no downloadable content. GTA IV and Fallout 3 come to mind specifically. Playstation Network (PSN) always seems to be behind XBox LIVE in terms of usability and features. PS3's Sixaxis is pretty cool and is actually helpful in some games instead of a constant gimmick like most Wii games. PS3 uses normal SATA hard drives so you don't have to shell out $150 for a new "special Playststaion hard drive" like the 360. PS3 has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built in allowing use of all standard Bluetooth headsets and wireless routers. PS3 has an internet browser, but I'm not sure how well it works. My friend's PS3 seemed able to handle most websites as well as some video, music, Java and Flash content. Two words. BLU-RAY I'm not hating on PS3. Its an excellent machine and the Blu-Ray is nice...if you have an HDTV. The library has most of the big titles that are also on 360 and PC, but the finer points of other consoles are missing from PS3.

One time I passed out in the middle of my living room floor. I kept having this dream where I would wake up and then something crazy would happen. Then I would realize I was in a dream and "wake up" inside another dream. When I finally truly woke up, I couldn't tell if I was in a dream or not and for about half an hour or so I was in this really odd limbo. I've never had sleep deprivation really do anything to me except I fall asleep and I think that I'm still awake. Then I actually wake up and realize I was asleep. I hate that. I can't have lucid dreams. As soon as I realize I'm in a dream, I force myself awake.

YES. Also for some old-school SNES rock, UN Squadron.

Bump Um I'm kind of getting worried about tickets. Is this meetup a no go or what?

Coop's hit the nail on the head about Halo. I always had fun playing Halo maybe once or twice all the way through, but Halo 3 really captivated me with its online experience. I've never really enjoyed the single player parts of Halo, and Halo 2's online is limited at best and absolutely mindless at worst. But when I picked up Crackdown I gave the Halo 3 beta a try and really enjoyed it. Once I got the actual game and discovered the Theatre Mode, I was sold. It's not an astonishing game by any means, but its quick, fun, and every once and a while its a great quick diversion.

I'm inclined to say A because especially games like Mega Man and such where even simple things like saving and crouching were not available. But there are other games I pick up from the old days and I think "this game was hard? Its so damn easy now" I would have to say B. FINAL ANSWER. Some old games are harder because the engines are not as refined and some basic ease-of-use things are missing, but there are also games from back in the day that don't utilize newer things like improved AI, graphical tricks and things like that. Certainly newer games try to appeal to gamers of all skill levels, but for every Mega Man 2, there is a Ninja Gaiden XBox, and for every Devil May Cry 2, there is a Toy Story.

I used to try and rationalize the massive holes in the Zelda story, until I realized Nintendo likes to make money and will gladly screw the crap out of all their games and plots to do so. Let's face it, Zelda, Metroid, Starfox, and Mario MAKE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. None of the games are related and its a humongous waste of creative energy to try and get them to fit together.

It sounds to me Wacky, that you are just upset that someone views talent in Guitar Hero as equal to your own talent and it infuriates you because you have spent years honing your craft and he spent maybe a few months practicing a song on a game. Nobody actually thinks that Guitar Hero requires the same level of ability as a real guitar. I mean I know I would probably not take someone seriously who walked up on stage with a plastic guitar with colored buttons on the frets and fired up an XBox. I think you just feel threatened by something that you know is not of the same caliber as your guitar ability. Some people like football atheletes, some people like guys who play Madden. Get over it. People always seem to hate games that they can't play well or games that detract attention from themselves.

Interesting. A little too artsy for me, but some of them are nice.

Well the group discount/group seating would be awesome, but we need to act quickly. I'd hate for us to make all these plans and then not have tickets So the sooner we have an idea who is coming, it would be great to get tickets.

I downloaded a noise signal generator program with an adjustable loop cycle and I'm using a bitcrusher to drop the sample rate. Well I'm not a programmer so making a VSTi isn't an option plus Logic doesn't use VSTi. I'm going to experiment some more with it, but it may come down to just sampling the actual noise. EDT: Well I figured it out and made a soundfont that is very similar, though not exact. Thanks for your help. Right-click --> Save As http://www.cerrax.com/GameboyNoise.sf2 Its just a 8-bit and 16-bit LFSR mapped onto a keyboard. Toss a bitcrusher on it to get the correct sample rate. Thanks again.

I've been using this as sort of a guide: http://www.belogic.com/gba/channel4.shtml I don't really have any audio examples, but if you've ever messed with the Gameboy Camera and played the little DJ game Trippy H, the 15 step cycle is Noise 1 and the 7 step cycle is Noise 2 in the Noise tab. Like I said the 15 step is very close to real white noise, but the 7 step has a more metallic, harsh tone (since there are less steps to define the wave). Yeah I've been experimenting with a 16 bit LFSR and doing just as you say by gradually changing the loop cycle and the sample rate and I'm getting mixed results at best. The algorithm for the Gameboy noise channel is more intricate than that. With the amount of time I've already invested researching the subject, it seems that trying to recreate an inferior noise generator with superior hardware is just going against the grain of productivity. There are a lot of factors working against this, many involving the hardware on both ends of the process. So I guess the Gameboy wins. If I can get a worthy soundfont together, I will be happy to share it with all who long to hear that classic noise.

Hell yes. I love shostakovich and mother and one of the first things that popped into my head when I heard Porky's theme was "huh. this sounds kinda like shosty five"

EDIT:I've made a soundfont of this for those interested. Right-click --> Save As http://www.cerrax.com/GameboyNoise.sf2 Its just a 8-bit and 16-bit LFSR mapped onto a keyboard. Toss a bitcrusher on it to get the correct sample rate.