vega12

Well, this is mostly right... except in 1.10 my Necromancer could pretty much solo all difficulties with ease. Skeleton armies coupled with corpse explosion dominated everything in that patch. And if you get the right equipment (like, those boots that give something like level 33 bone prison, and if you don't put any points into that ability to start with, all 33 points act as synergies) you can have wicked bone spells too. They would've been enough damage-wise to dual even, except you can never hit a human target with bone spells . This being said, there were some parts were I still needed help to get through, due to monster resistances.

Snap... that's about double my high score . I managed to chain the entire thing (50 something chain I think), but that person's ability to multi-chain, and get tons of bonuses along the way really bring that score above and beyond what I've seen.

I actually have to chip in about this one in particular. I went about buying my LCD TV sometime around summer last year I believe. I was buying through FutureShop and initially got a 42in Sharp Aquos. However, there was definite banding in that model. Basically, there was a strip where the backlighting was noticably lighter. This was especially apparent when watching hockey, as the rink is fairly light colored already, and it scans across. Also, it had a dead pixel. I ended up bringing it back in. I then hooked my laptop up to a floor model, put on a grey screen, noticed banding, then a white screen and found a dead pixel. So I received a new closed box model. Took that one home, and it again had the same problem (although the dead pixel was just one of the 3 colors dead ). So I ended up exchanging this 3rd Aquos for the other model I had my eye on, the 40in Samsung. Took it home, and haven't looked back. No banding, no dead pixels, good darks, good resolution. So yeah, I would recommend Samsung based on my experiences. Also, the price I see has gone down from about the 2100 I originally paid, so it about is in your price range. The other option is to get a 1080p LCD monitor/TV. They are way cheaper, but don't have a TV tuner built in, and tend to be lower in quality.

In this comparison of Mario Kart games, why is it that no one has brought up the DS version yet? It doesn't suffer from either of those problems (too many blue shells, cheating AI). Plus, it has lots of cool tracks, good racing mechanics, and online play. I actually enjoyed it more than both MK64 and MKDD. Just my two cents.

I just finished playing through Professor Layton today. I beat all the normal puzzles, but haven't tried many of the bonus puzzles yet. It was fun, but I found it leaning a bit on the easy side. That's not to say it was easy, but more often than not I would be able to solve the puzzles fairly quickly. These easy ones though were primarily simple logic ones, ones that could be solved by writing down a couple equations and solving, or by having a good spatial intuition. However, there were also some head-scratchers that I wouldn't have gotten for the life of me if it weren't for the hint system. The story was also pretty good, and I felt the videos and voice acting was used tastefully and added to the game. All-in-all, definitely recommended; I will be picking up the sequel when it comes out.

When you're working with the compressed video of HDTV though, the difference is minimal at best typically what is meant. When dealing with computer resolutions, which are perfect, of course it's easy to tell the difference between sharper edges and stuff. However, for most people they simply watch TV on their TVs, and so 720p and 1080p are basically indistinguishable. Especially when there's basically no 1080p streaming TV out there. And with 1080i being upscaled to 1080p, the 1080i is considered good enough for almost anyone.

Music recommendations, eh? Well, I mind as well take this time to mention my favorite artist. Shiina Ringo She has done a bunch of work solo, before forming a band called Tokyo Jihen. Although I enjoy Tokyo Jihen's music a lot (especially their latest album), I still prefer her solo work. Her music is very varied, using lots of different instruments. Some fall under the genre jazz, others rock, and some pop, most with much overlap. She also has a very distinctive voice, which might irk some, as it took me a few listens to truly enjoy her work, but I've since grown very fond of it. If you have time, you can check out these 3 promotional videos on YouTube: Honnou (Instinct) Yami ni Furu Ame (Rain in the Dark) Tsumi to Batsu (Crime and Punishment)

That's good news. My friend already got a copy of GH3 (through eBay), but I put off getting one myself because of this error. Now that I know there's a fix on the way, I wish I tried to get a copy earlier because now I probably won't be able to get one until January 2nd.... and my friend only has one guitar

I'm currently just starting the last trial. I found the last bit of the third trial a little difficult, but for some reason I had tons of trouble on the fourth trial! I've had problems before in this series, but that was just crazy how incompetent I felt .

As someone who doesn't play the single player campaigns much, I'd have to agree with the statement that Starcraft and Warcraft have different moods. I'm not sure if the original statement was even that much directed at story, or rather the gameplay. This difference in mood is present even at the shallow level of "swords, shields, and magic" versus "space, guns, and technology". But arguing over whether the moods are different is primarily a subjective argument with no right answer anyway. Some people might find the games similar at some fundamental level which they feel makes the moods similar, while others might not see the same similarities as limiting factors.

I just beat Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I estimate it took me about 25 hours to beat. Mind you, that's probably like 20 if I didn't have to spend time translating . That's still a good length for it I think. There aren't as many dungeons as say, LttP, but there's lots of stuff outside the dungeons you have to do. And unlike Wind Waker, those kind of out-of-dungeon tasks don't feel as meaningless. Control mechanics are pretty good too, and the touch screen is integrated very well. Final battle wasn't disappointing either, although like all Zelda games, it could've been a little harder. I recommend it to anyone who's considering buying it. Solid game.

Yeah, I rocked Fire Cup without losing a match, then struggled to make the elimination rounds in Crystal Cup. I lost in the elimination finals . Maybe I'll bring a few friends over and see how that goes. What does everyone here use for a team? I'm using Mario right now, with 2 Dry Bones and a Hammer Bros. Thinking of trying Birdo out too.

Just a small thing to note to those that think the composer list is indicative of what characters are going to be featured in this game. The arrangement of this OoT song is done by Michiko Naruke, who primarily composes for the Wild ARMs series, and I have a strong doubt that this particular game will be represented in Brawl. As I expected, it seems these composers are brought on as "guest arrangers", if you will, to possibly increase demand since everyone will want to hear the songs made by their favorite composer. Having an all-star lineup of composers certainly couldn't hurt, at least.

I don't have my DS here, nor ready access to wifi, but when I get home I'll put up my Panel de Pon friend code (I think it's compatible with the NA Planet Puzzle League). So what are the highest scores you've all done so far on Time Attack? I've managed to break 112,000 with a (I think) 57x chain. The stylus really helps inprove ones ability to control chains by having rapid access to all panels on the screen, as well as making multi-chaining much more managable too.

There's probably a few things that happen, but I believe if you ar eover 100%, recovering from a ledge is slower than if you are under. Instead of being able to jump up and attack quickly, you are more luggish. Outside that, I'm not sure.

Does anyone know if I could play people with PPL games, when I have the Japanese one? Also, it is my opinion that the stylus is the superior control mechanism. You can move about the screen quickly and accurately, as well as swap panels multiple squares rapidly and flawlessly. It's hard to do the small tricky moves, but for chaining, that small hurdle is easily outweighed by the mobility the stylus gives you. Also, you can raise the stack while chaining. It's an option (at least in the Japanese version). This has allowed me to break 100,000 points on time trial with a 55+ chain and bonuses. I just wish I had an easy way to get online to tear it up there! The only time I did get online, I played two matches against the same person for some reason, and they were completely new to the game.

Three versions of Tetris Attack: Tetris Attack (SNES) Pokemon Puzzle League (N64) Panel de Pon DS (DS)

I know the Japanese version has English and Japanese, but does the North American one also have Japanese as an option? If not, I'm importing . I bought number 2 while in Japan, and it's good fun trying to work through in Japanese. Although I'll have to find a copy of the first before getting the third .

I agree with the Samsungs. I went through three separate Sharp Aquos 42in 1080p TVs (62 model if you're interested), and all had one dead pixel, and some slight banding. Switched to a 40in 1080p Samsung, and haven't looked back. Picture is similar, but I'd lean toward the Samsung from what I've seen.

I agree. Everything but the collecting of artifacts, or whatever they were in that game was fun. I just dislike those "collect X number of Y items to continue" games.

So I imported Planet Puzzle League (Panel de Pon DS - パネルでポンDS - basically, Tetris Attack on the DS) and it arrived yesterday. Thought I'd post some impressions. First of all, I played the game for the first 5 or so hours using the D-pad instead of the stylus. The game gives you the option to play holding the DS normally, or holding it like a book left or right handed. You can only really play with the D-pad while holding it normally, while the book style is meant for stylus use. You can try to use the stylus for the normal way of holding it, but the panels are signficantly larger when held like a book, making it much easier to make moves. I started off just playing VS against the CPU on hard. There were 10 rounds to play, and it took my 19 losses before making it through them all! Needless to say, the CPU blows Tetris Attack out of the water. The mean game length was like 5 minutes at least. I'd say it's on par with Pokemon Puzzle League in terms of difficulty. The big thing I noticed though is that the non-standard panels are more awkward to work with, because my mind is trained to work with the normal Tetris Attack ones. Don't fret though; it gives you the option to either use the stage panels, or chose a set for all stages. There's also items you can turn on for garbage battles which make garbage battles much more interesting, and less of a battle of attrition. I don't know what all do for sure, but some one would lock one row of your opponent down temporarily so they can't swap them, one would clear garbage off you completely, one would start randomly switching the opponents panel colors for a short time, one would change some blocks into grey duds temporarily. Not sure if that's all, but that's what I recall right now. There's a few more modes to play with too. You can try to get high scores in a 2 minute interval in Score Attack, Garbage Attack, Clear Attack. Score Attack is the normal points for chains/combos. In Garbage Attack, you are continuously bombarded by garbage, and your goal is to clear as much garbage as possible. And Clear Attack is just like the stage clear mode where you have to raise the stack as much as possible. Now, one option they give you that changes the dynamic significantly is the ability to raise the stack while panels are clearing. This means you can potentially chain for as long as you want! After a couple hours of playing, I already have a 49x chain, and score of 80000+. Although I think to break 100,000 points, you need to put lots of bonus matches in during the chain, because that 49x chain was for about 1:45 of the whole 2:00 . The other thing that makes it easier to achieve high scores is, believe it or not, the stylus. You can swap panels across the screen with lightning speed, and move the stylus from the bottom to the top of the screen much more quickly and accurately than with the D-pad. Also, if there are clearing panels in the way, you can basically 'queue' up a swap moving the pen like you would normally, but without lifting it off the screen, then when the clearing panels are done clearing, the panel will immediately swap. It makes for doing some things much easier, like catching some dropping panels, or double-swapping to continue a chain. I don't have wireless at my home, so when I'll test out the competition online later. I guess this is a good enough post to tell you what I think of the game. If you liked Tetris Attack, get this game. It is different enough, yet similar enough to keep my interest, and has some new modes to keep an experienced player busy for a bit, before they become absorbed in online play . Also, I hear you can talk using the mic online. EDIT: Oh yeah, it can also save movies of your feats in Score Attack. Sweet, eh?

Wow! How did I not notice this?! A game called "Planet Puzzle League" is coming out for the DS this summer! Basically, to me it's online Tetris Attack... that's going to be so many kinds of awesome.

Day of Crisis I am definately interested in learning more about, but I also look forward to Project HAMMER. It looks like it could be a simple, yet fun game. Although I just hope they do it such that it doesn't get old fast, because it also looks like it could be one of those kind of games.

Wow, I'm actually surprised Crosby (of the Sidney variety ) is so high up there! Sure, he's garnered more media attention than any NHL player in a long time, but the NHL's influence isn't THAT far reaching (although I wish it was ). ... go Canucks!

Oh man, there was a really good quote in the last chapter that doesn't really spoil anything, but is hilariously off-beat. Something along the lines of: "And now I strike, like an unexpected dodgeball in an echoing gymnasium!" Some of the things they say in this game are just priceless!