I-n-j-i-n

GTA4 is obviously the better made game, but Yahtzee nailed it on the head. GTA4, while impressive in its own right, is overhyped. Not in the "FF7 snubbing FF6 fanboyism way", but in that it got too much praise when in the end, there just weren't enough of a GAME in there. Saints Row 2 is a game through and through. It's a hodgepodge, but it's way more fun than GTA4 to me. I just wish the online mode wasn't so broken that I'd have to wait 10 minutes to join a room..

Not the graphics. The character design (when they're blurry and out of proportion, then it means they're ugly..) and animation (everyone moves like Frankenstein's monster..). Just about every major Japanese games get it right, so why can't a great Western company? Actually, BioShock had really horrible character design and wonky animation too, as great as the environ's graphics were. Historically, it's the one thing Bethesda struggled throughout. Morrowind was amazing, but the visual style was atrocious on anything that is not a terrain/building. Oblivion had to be remade visually by the mod community because of the blurry-face-syndrome. They even tried to re-do the animation via mods. Other than that, the green, machine font is a nice aesthetic touch, but it's problematic when some letters are obscured. Also, the font is a bit too small. Then again, Bethesda has a habit of making games a bit too verbose. And wingless, I hope your hypothesis is true, because I thought I heard the ending was really good in Fallout 3...

Combat is at least way better than Oblivion's IMO. It's just a pain when you don't have any ammo or guns to fight enemies early on though. Way too brutal earlier on. And the interface is lacking, but Bethesda games tends to have awful interfaces. Finally, the character design and animation are pretty hideous for what is a AAA game release otherwise. They need to hire REAL animators and character designers, because the ones they have aren't cut out for the industry. It's like generic animation and generic designs. And worse than the norm by far. Basically the one big knock against the game. At least enemies heads and body parts fall out. That's always fun. The normal hustle and bustle? Not so much.

I have to agree with the fonts. What's with Rare and fonts? Almost all their games after Goldeneye and DKC games had horrendous, unreadable fonts. Orange text behind orange background was hideous in Viva Pinata too. Totally unreadable at times. Also, the tutorial was a bit much early on. Could've had a more natural pace, but Rare games tends to plop people into a complex game almost all the time. I'm surprised that this game is getting almost universal praise from those not totally turned off by the fonts and the sorta-steep learning curve.

To me, Rita was broken the moment Overdrives were attained. I never saw many spellcasters that vicious before.

Just played the demo a bit and I'm seriously considering it to be one of the best new games of the year personally. A Rare game that surpasses expectations? YES. It's also very inventive and just a lot of fun. The customizing of vehicles don't feel tacked on or totally arbitrary either. Kotaku said this game actually drew crowd presence in the Tokyo Game Show and now I can understand why. I just wish the demo wasn't monster-sized..

Watching the Biggest Loser, I never would have realized TWENTY chicken nuggets (fried, fast food style + BBQ sauce) is actually healthier than a wheat-wrap Fajita. On that note, I'd stay far away from carbohydrates, no matter if it's whole wheat or not. Even if it's to do with meat, I'd opt for lean meats like lean, white chicken meat (even if it's a nugget) ham and turkey. Also, I find that a few vigorous exercise every other day basically burns almost everything off. To me, diet isn't even an issue and I sometimes indulge with fast food every now and then. But it doesn't matter because the metabolism is there from all the exercise.

Ew.. animated TV show and film. I hope they release any potential sequel on all three big consoles. I wonder if the sequel will be downloadable too.

And Resident Evil 5... and Street Fighter 4 if it comes out by March.

I still hold some hope that the next 360/PS3 Castlevania game is in fact, downloadable, have achievements/trophies, has the 3D graphics... but with the 2D gameplay. I wouldn't mind a 3D game... unless it's 2D.

Wow. I COMPLETELY forgot this game was coming. Between MM9, Portal, Saints Row 2, Fallout 3, Fable, perfecting Mario Galaxy... Too many games.. But in regards to the game's difficulty, maybe they finally heard the complaints that the game was only hard if you restricted yourself. Like with a knife. Actually, running through the game with a tiny knife wasn't too hard in most recent Castlevanias either..

Good info. I'm still puzzled why Tales games puts so much stock into unlockables instead of making the actual quest filled with the progression of super monsters and more practical use of higher level fighting styles (level 4 Overdrives are basically overkill with the exception of super bosses). I still can't believe how rote the final hours of the game's story was. It felt like the game could have taken way more interesting turns, but nothing much to show for it. At least the character interactions make it all worth it. Even if the characters don't get much to work with near the end.

I think Miyamoto blew it on this one. It seems Nintendo's super casuals-only mindset lately is getting into Miyamoto's head. I barely thought it was worth the rental or my time. I never felt that way about most of Miyamoto's games. It felt even more gimmicky than usual. Controller? Why is that a factor? I don't get it.. Oh yeah, and the music aspect? AWFUL. Rockband and Guitar Hero has way better audio sensibility and music quality.

I got the opposite reaction. I loved Cloverfield (way too bashed for the way it's shot IMO) and I loved the parody too.

Yeah, I thought they were not showing me everything without unlocking everything.. meh. Time for a second run.

I got that achievement some 5 odd months ago when I killed a Rockstar employee in a race mode.. Just... blah. Where's the DLC already?

I wonder if anyone else ever had the experience of going straight from Country to Classical to Contemporary to almost everything. I once even used to listen exclusively to Country music. It's almost hard to believe. And I guess that was in teenage years. If there's any kind of a shift, it's a lot of mainstream pop that has too much fake attitude imbued in them. I'd take J-pop or Swiss-pop or any other foreign pop music that isn't so instilled with the horrid attitude adjustment to them.

I'm not saying Fakeman is super hard or anything, but he has way more weapons going for him. I do think Magmaman's jumping BS is harder because it's just so annoying. But I personally don't like fighting Megaman-wannabes who fight conventionally and is immune to almost all weapons. I'm getting the hang of it, but going through that trek to fight him is a bit much. Still trying to do it within 2 minutes like the crazy speedrunners.

Anybody having fun with the Hero and Superhero modes? Also, the special level is a long torture-run and the final boss of that level is probably the hardest one to fight of the robot bosses of them all. So far, I'm spending something like 25$ on all the Megaman 9 related downloads including icons and wallpapers. Ridiculous, but I'd actually say it was worth it.

I never got around to playing it for HL2's expansion, but from the demo, it's pretty much perfect. The controls, the visuals, everything. The only thing bad is the 700mb of data it's consuming, but for what is probably one of the best 3D puzzlers, it's not too bad. Also the extra rooms helps the purchase. So it's around $15 for a standalone. Which fits me fine since I couldn't care less for Team Fortress 2 and other Half Life addons except for Episode 2 itself. For what it's worth, I never thought any Tales games had much of a captivating story. Always the same formulaic 'two political factions fighting over a mythical power than can DESTROY THE WURLD' BS with the same anime archetypes we've seen a billion times. Considering how great the character interactions are in Vesperia (IMO one of the most likable crews in RPG I've played in a while), and it's a shame most of it is wasted and crucial characters are killed unspectacularly and some characters like the two lackey girls basically disappear for no good reason. It's like they couldn't give a damn about the story. The battle is good, even though there's no reason to max everything up by the end since there really are not many ultra-side bosses to deal with.

Huh? That doesn't make any sense. If you likes Symphonia, then you'll probably end up liking Abyss more. Vesperia to me is like the culmination of it all even if the story is a bit cliche. Then again, there's this weird console fanboyism that goes around with Symphonia. I wish Namco stops kidding around and releases all their Tales games on multiple consoles.

I actually plunged on the $100 one a year ago (hell, my XBL Gold account will be done shortly. Have to renew) and though expensive, I think it's been worth it. Goddammit, Xbox 720 better have it internally.

Sony is doing too many sucking up these days. Recalling the first Resistance for the usage of a history church (fucking boohoo. Who cares) and now this. Also, presidential candidate Barack Obama being 'accused' of being Muslim. Oh, I never knew it was something bad to begin with. Christ.

I thought the first one was amazing. The earlier parts do drag on because they make you explore the entire island. It's either going to impress you or turn you off. It impressed me, though the monsters threw everything up for a loop. I'm glad they got rid of the monsters this time.

I honestly couldn't care less about the gore, though I agree with some that the gore factor in Dead Space is almost bewildering. So many GIBS. Other than that, I just think it's a bit messed up to research dead people, whom have no say in how the art is used. Likenesses or not. I would simply think it doesn't take much to research it otherwise. But whatever. As for Dead Alive, yeah, there's a tons of gore in it but it was like 99% comedy. heh