Jam Stunna

With reference to the comparison between ME and Bioshock, I never played ME, but one of the reasons I didn't finish Bioshock was the clumsy interface. I'm sure that if I'd put more time into it, I would have gotten the whole switching between plasmids and guns system. But that's exactly the point- my current life doesn't allow me the time to learn what may be an incredibly rewarding but awfully complex system. This also drove me away from the Madden franchise for years. It simply became too complicated, and anyone who had the time to learn all of the pre-play control options would destroy me when I played them. The most fun I've had in games recently has been NSMB Wii and Mario Kart Wii, and those are pretty much the epitome of simplicity. I still enjoy deep and complex games as much as the pick-up-and-play stuff (I'm very big into fighting games, and those aren't known for accessibility), but I agree with the article and appreciate games that don't demand hours of my time to understand its mechanics.

I'm pretty hyped for this. I'm really interested to see how the wall combo mechanic works. And I'm glad to see that Ibuki's in, she's going to be my secondary. I think they'll do a fine job of balancing. It won't be perfect, but as long as it's not as unbalanced as Smash, I'll consider it a success.

My favorite line was: "Gambling fraud just isn't my style." But I quit about halfway in, so I'm sure I missed a few gems.

I enjoyed the gameplay changes they made, but the story was so grating I couldn't finish it.

Starfox 64 for me. I played that game religiously, every day, trying to push my score higher and higher. I think my top score was 1850 at one point. I'm about to start playing again to try and crack 1900. Because it's perfect?

Of course it's whining, but is it whining with or without warrant? For the record, I hated playing Capcom vs. SNK 2 on the Gamecube.

I know this is all subjective anyway, but WHAAAAAAA?!

I agree with this 120%, mainly because of the control scheme. How are you guys playing this? Wiimote? GC controller? Classic controller? Or did you shell out for the fight stick? All of those options sound equally awful.

I would like to see Drew Brees get a ring. Anyway, we have two weeks until the Super Bowl, so let's talk some general football. I made this post on another forum in the beginning of Jamuary and I wanted to see what you guys (READ: zyko, atmuh, Bahamut) think about it and the NFL in general. And I posted that before I learned that the Pro Bowl was being played the week before the Super Bowl, ostensibly to increase viewership. Football isn't like basketball or baseball; every time the players step out onto the field they take their careers in their hands. Could you imagine if Manning or Brees were injured in the Pro Bowl, of all games? But, it's in the pursuit of greater revenue for the league, so it's okay.

There's a program called XPadder that will allow you to set up a USB controller to play with. I'm using a PS2 controller with a USB hookup and XPadder to play.

I hope that you're right Zirc. A Jets-Vikings Super Bowl would be my no-win scenario.

I'm a big Star Trek fan, so I was hoping against good sense that this game would overcome mediocrity, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case.

I really think Jason Campbell could be one of the better QBs in the league if he had some consistency. Maybe not McNabb good, but has the poor guy ever had the same offensive coordinator/coach for two years in a row?

You're not giving McNabb the credit he deserves. Name ONE marquee reciever (or even halfway decent reciever) that McNabb has had in his career besides Terrel Owens. That entire offense has been nothing but McNabb and Brian Westbrook making due with subpar talent and an absurdly pass-focused gameplan. Andy Reid and the front office have no idea how to draft talent. Their defense aged out and now it's in shambles, and their offense is where it's always been, relying on McNabb's ability to make stars out of second string talent.

The Eagles definitely are the Bills of the 2000's. Their main problem is that Andy Reid is actually an awful coach, and he's been winning purely on the talent of Donovan McNabb. If the Eagles were coached by, say, Bill Cowher, they'd have won four Super Bowls last decade. EDIT- Also my hatred of the Jets is an entirely regional thing.

Your logic is quite sound, my Bay Area Brother (I'm a 49ers fan). But I still hate the Jets.

Fuck the Jets

That would be great, I love Minish Cap. Also, I'm keeping my expectations for this game extremely low until Nintendo proves that Wii Motion Plus functionality will not suck.

Other than the original, I really like SMK Wii's Rainbow Road.

Next year, my friend. Next year

This is the worst post-season ever. I HATE the Jets I HATE the Cowboys If the Patriots win tomorrow, it will prove conclusively that there is no God.

Happy Birthday my fellow Nutmeger!

All right, I wrote this story a few months ago. I know that's against the rules, but I wrote it and did nothing with it, and I want to get some mileage out of it. If you want to disqualify it, that's fine.

I might try to write something for this month.

I don't mind "casual gamers" or whatever; videogames are supposed to be fun, and I fully support any effort to spread that fun to as many people as possible. That said, I would prefer it if developers didn't confuse simple games with shovelware. For every Cooking Mama, there are at least ten crappy knockoffs. I suppose it doesn't really matter to me, as I'm willing to do the research to tell the difference between the good and the bad, but it does bother me that other consumers, who may not be as savvy when it comes to games (parents/grandparents, you know the ones who walk into a store and say "What do the kids like?" because they really have no idea) are getting crap unloaded on them. I want these people to enjoy their experience for their own sake, and also because it grows the industry and leads to me having more games to play. Also, I think it's a good thing that the Wii is so successful, because it puts the brakes on the spiraling cost of game development. AAA PS3/360 games need to sell into the millions of copies to turn a profit; that kind of pressure stifles creativity, as publishers are less willing to take chances on unproven IPs (see: Mirror's Edge). The next generation of game hardware is certainly going to move away from the more-is-better school of thought in terms of hardware, which is good. I'm still not convinced by this whole motion sensing thing, but if it'll keep costs down, I can live with it.