The Coop

Even the tale about the duck who was mistaken for the princess' husband, and was blown by the princess, the queen and the court jester in one night?

It'd be easier to just eliminate any game from Sega, Nintendo or Square-Enix. That way you'd really force people to explore, and not just shuffle sideways a little to some other game from those companies.

AirForce Delta (Dreamcast)- I can remember when AeroWings came out, it sure was a pretty game... of flight practice. It looked so nice, but was boring as hell. GIMME SOME DAMN GUNS! Thankfully, AFD filled that need. Graphically, if looked very nice for its time. Lots of jets to fly, plenty of missions, some cool "boss" encounters (i.e. really gun heavy bases and ships), decent tunes, and that fun arcade-y style of gameplay. Story-wise though, it was lacking. It's story wasn't bad, it was just generic. But the rest of the game made up for this. A Borderline YES from me. Ace Combat 4 (PS2)- A good looking flight game, with some fun missions, good graphics, and plenty of planes to grab. While I find it to be below AC5, it's still worth playing. A Borderline YES. Doom 3 (XBox)- I remember how many people felt this game couldn't be done justice on Microsoft's bulky system. Yet they got proven wrong... sort of. It's got the look, sound and atmosphere of the PC original, but it was trimmed down to fit in the XBox's smaller amount of system RAM. As a result, the levels aren't as big. Also, the frame rate took a hit, so it's not as smooth as it's PC cousin (which still runs better on a Radeon 9800 Pro than the XBox). So while I love the PC version, the XBox version took a few too many hits. A NO from me. Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBox)- A fine entry to the series. Good story, great music, amazing graphics, nice artwork and character designs, and plenty of intense shooting and dodging. What looks to sadly be the final entry for this at times overlooked series, is also every bit as good as the ones before it. If this game is indeed to be the finale, it was a grand one. A definite YES to me.

It's been a month already? Better nudge this so it'll still be around.

sephire- Castlevania: Curse of Drakness on the XBox has a meta score of 7.2 with 29 reviews. Alien Hominid (PS2)- What started as a single level Flash game, became a full on PS2 Run 'N Gun classic. A great and original art style, a good sense of humor, massive carnage, one hell of a challenge in the second half, nice animation, and just great production values all the way through. YES. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (XBox)- One of the few Castlavanias to not feature a Belmont (or a Belmont off shoot) as the main character. While the game's graphics aren't much of a step up from the previous 3D outing ("Lament"), the game itself holds up better. The Innocent Devils are a fun addition to the gameplay, having combos at your disposal ups the gameplay anti a bit, and the boss fights are fun. Top it off with some very nice music, an interesting story, and memorable characters (with decent voicing acting to boot), and it's a fine addition to the Castlevania family. That's not to say it's perfect though. Again, the graphics are a bit tame considering the era the game was released, and the level designs are still a bit lacking. But the high points of the game do elevate it into the Borderline Yes realm for me. Halo (XBox)- The first true "must own" title for the XBox. A great musical score, very good (for the day) graphics, plenty of action, some good voice over work, good enemy AI, and one hell of a twist about mid-way through the game. It also offers up a good challenge. Sure, the repeating corridor graphics get old after a while, but that's a small dent on an otherwise quality game. YES. Metal Slug 3 (XBox)- And here ladies and gentlemen, is what 2D gaming awesomeness looks like. This game took what was already a great franchise, and shot into infamy. The 2D artwork in this game is amazing, with every last little things having ridiculous amounts of detail and animation to it. The trademark sense of humor shines through, and the art style still looks fresh. The challenge in this game is hardcore (level 5 is insanely long), the music is great, the variety of enemies, stages and things to drive is high, multiple branching paths on each mission... the list of greatness goes on and on with this game. The Xbox handled this game well, and did away with the "shimmering" effect of the Japanese PS2 port, so the graphics show through better. Like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, this game showed that 2D is still alive and well, and can shine with the best 3D has to offer when it's done by people with real talent. A huge YES for this one. Daytona USA (Dreamcast)- Arcade-y racing... gotta love it. A good amount of tracks (all or which are manipulated in four ways), easy to handle power sliding controls, great graphics for the time, those trademark and unsettlingly infectious Daytona tunes, and plenty of car variations to unlock as you race. After the disaster that was Daytona USA on the Saturn, and the iffy "improvement" with Daytona USA: Championship Circuit Edition on the same system, this DC game brought the series back in fine form. Not the best racing game ever made, but a fine example of arcade-y racing nonetheless. A YES in my book.

Why not just go with Boss Month again? I seem to recall a lot of idiocy surrounding trying to make July and August into theme months, and a lot of flames over the idea... all the while, a good number of people enjoyed the Boss themes. Boss Month part II makes sense to me.

Oops. But yeah, that's a Europe release. The US PS2 got GGX2, with the US XBox getting GGX2#Reload.

Um, sephfire? There is no Guilty Gear X2 #Reload for the PS2. It's just Guilty Gear X2, and it has a meta of 8.5 over twenty reviews. Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox)- Basically, this pack is the original Saturn version of DoA, and tweaked version of DoA2. While the original game was a decent fighter, the insane amount of tit bounce made it hard to take seriously. DoA2 changed that. Sure, the mamories still bounce, but it's greatly reduced, and the fighting engine was given a needed work over. It became a real fighting game, and a good one at that. Great graphics, multi-tiered fighting arenas, counters, and some vicious moves... it brought Team Ninja to the fighting world properly. Now, take the original DoA2, beef up the graphics, add all kinds of extras to everything, throw in online play, and that's DoA2 Ultimate. While DoA3 and DoA4 may have upped the anti a little, it's DoA2 that still stands out as the best in the series to me, and this version of it is the best of the mass DoA2 releases bunch. A YES for me. Otogi: Myth of Demons (XBox)- While the concept of hack 'n slash has been around for a while, it was this game that really brought it into the 3D world with style. A wild and weird tales set in real Japanese mythos, gorgeous graphics, a tough challenge, varied levels, cool bosses, tight control, an actual friendly 3D camera, and simple controls that let you focus on the intense action at hand. This game is what other 3D hack 'n slashers wish they could be. YES. Ikaruga (Dreamcast)- Another masterpiece from Treasure. Very nice graphics, a vicious challenge, and a real twist on the shmup formula with its "light/dark" bullet absorption scheme. It's a game of skill, dodging, endurance, and perhaps most importantly, timing. Without the "light/dark" aspect, it would still be a good shmup. But with it, it's a great one. Yes. Street Fighter III: Double Impact (Dreamcast)- Everyone knows "Third Strike" is considered the pinnacle of the SFIII trilogy. But the two that came before it were nothing to sneeze at. Amazing animation, a virtually new cast of characters, their depth of gameplay, and there are two games on this disc to boot. The third incarnation polished everything up and added new stuff, but there's no reason to abandon the first two games for the third. A borderline YES. Zero Gunner II (Dreamcast)- Psikyo games have always had a look a feel all their own. Short levels, big mech bosses, and a simple scoring system that still had some depth to it if you tried. What this game did, was take their trademark traits, bring them into the 3D world, and then add a gameplay feature that gives the shmup concept an interesting spin... "focal points". Basically, hold down a button, and your helicopter will keep it's nose pointed at a single spot on the screen, as it rotates all around that point. No more straight forward "fly up/left and blow shit up", now it's "aim everywhere". This makes for a different experience, and presents a whole new set of challenges as the enemies and bosses move around the screen. It's a fun twist on an old genre that would be a shame to pass up. YES. Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)- Ah, Sonic's first real gaming 3D outing. Pretty graphics, catchy 80's tunes, and a fun challenge. It also has a lot of replayability to achieve the best ending. Sadly, it also has a less than cooperative camera, questionable voicing, and dodgey hit detection. It's a fun game to be sure, but I'm not 100% certain I can call it a must have. A borderline NO for this one. Guilty Gear X2 (PS2)- What many would consider the series' finest hour. High-res art, very nice animation, a heavy metal soundtrack, lots of wild characters, a good fighting engine, a hard challenge, and a much, much better gameplay balance than the painfully lopsided Guilty Gear X. The XBox version (called GGX2#Reload) adds a few minor extras here and there, but changes little else, and the sequels that followed this one tinkered with the formula and broke it. A great fighting game that's not to be missed, and a YES for sure. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance (XBox)- Good ol' Dungeons and Dragons. Here's another example of 3D hack 'n slash done right. Big levels, clean graphics, a good story, nice tunes, all sorts of stuff to upgrade on your character, several characters to choose from, and some fun boss battles. And unlike the recent Gauntlet games, it's just long enough to be fulfilling without getting horribly dragged out. Couple this with playing co-op with a friend, cool little graphical touches like your character changing their look depending on what armor/weapon you have, good lip syncing for the cinemas, and nice animation on everything, and this is a hack 'n slash to be enjoyed. A YES. MechAssault (XBox)- The continuation of the MechWarrior series... sort of. While not related to the PC games, it is set in the same universe. It's also one hell of a great Mech game. Amazing for the time graphics, great attention to even the smallest details (watch the little touches as you blast buildings apart), tough missions that don't feel cheap in their challenge, "arcade-y" controls that simplify the action while still giving you complete control over your Mech (sans weapon load out), and a nice sense of scale. It's one of the best console Mech games out there, and it gives the PC games a run for their money. A quality game across the board, that gets a resounding YES.

Let's give this a whirl... - Several years ago, I submitted three remixes that were eventually accepted onto your site. While I was most grateful for the hosting and the visibility your site have provided, I have begun a new chapter in my remixing life. I'm currently working on making a website for both my remixes, and various other works that I've made over the years. I have the intension of making my website the only place sanctioned by myself to provide my remixes for download, and it'll be going live in a couple of days. As such, I request that you remove all three of my remixes from your site. Thank you for what you've done, and I wish you the best for your site and its future. - Several years ago, I submitted "X" and "Y" to your website. They were accepted, and posted. Since that time, as an active member of the OCR community, I've been watching this place grow and change. However, in the past year, I feel a number of the actions you and your staff have taken were ill informed, childish, and abusive towards both contributing members of the community, and the community overall. The events surrounding the sidebar and UnMod deletion were bad enough, but when you showed up drunk and began randomly deleting threads and banning users, and then had to gall to make that pathetic excuse for an apology... well, that was the final straw. I have become thoroughly disgusted with how this site is being run, and by those running it. As such, I request that both of my remixes be removed from your database, as I no longer wish to be a part of OCR in any way, shape, or form.

Or, they just didn't like the story and setting of the first game, the way it played, or what have you, and don't see a reason to jump at the second one. Some folks just genuinely dislike it. Hell, if there are people who don't like Castlevania games, there are certainly people who don't like StarCraft I know if I get it, I'll be waiting for the price to drop. I'm somewhat interested at the moment (too little info to make any judgments), but I'm not $60 interested.

Having given the 2nd draft a read through, I still find... ... the bolded part to be too one sided. You're saying you can deny a remixer's request to remove their mix(es), but you can remove it for various reasons that have nothing to do with the remixer. This, coupled with your admitted lack of respect given towards the removal request reasonings you posted earlier, comes off badly. I can see why this section makes people uncertain about having their remixes on here. Now yes, I understand that removing even just one remix would mean plucking it from not just the site, but the mirrors and the torrents. I know that's potentially a lot of work. But, I refer you back to my comments here about a two week "cool off" period, and the "Once it's gone, it's gone" concept, and here regarding what I feel is a need to expand upon, in policy, how removal requests will be dealt with. How it's worded now is ambiguous, and leaves much open to interpretation. You know removal requests are going to happen, so why not formulate a way in which you can explain to the submitting remixers how you will deal with such requests? I still firmly believe that simply telling someone "We're not removing it" is a very poor way to run things, but as you said, that's not necessarily a policy-centric concept. However, I'm quite convinced that not addressing in some way, in policy, how OCR will deal with removal requests is a bad idea. Regarding the policy as a whole, that portion was the only area I personally have an issue with. If that small section could be worked on so it was more informative, I'd have no issues agreeing with it if I were still submitting remixes here. But as it is right now in this 2nd draft, knowing what's been said, I question whether I'd agree with it or not, as I'd really have to stop and think about the above section for a while.

Capcom vs. SNK (DC)- While the second game improved upon what was offered in the first one, it's still nothing to sneeze at. The artwork is nice, the animation is smooth, the controls are tight, and getting to battle SNK and Capcom fighters is always fun. I give it a YES Onimusha 2: Samurai’s Destiny (PS2)- The middle child of the series, but one that stands on its own. I'd explain it, but LegendarySword pretty well summed it up. YES from me as well. Twisted Metal: Black (PS2)- The game that brought Twisted Metal back into the limelight. After the third and fourth games brought stagnation to the franchise, "Black" reinvigorated it... mostly because the original team was back on the case. The graphics were great for the time, and gameplay was hectic and fun, the arenas were good, and the vehicles were fun again. It's still one of the best games in the vehicular carnage genre, and deserves a YES in my book. Conker: Live and Reloaded (Xbox)- I'm going to have to give this game a NO. Why? Because overall, the N64 version is better. Yes, the XBox gave it a nice face lift, but it also took out sections, bleeped a lot of things that weren't bleeped to begin with, and just basically neutered the game. It improved very little, and took away quite a bit. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (XBox, PS2, DC)- Put simply, YES. This is basically one of the best chaos fighting games out there. It took everyone from the vs series up to that point, added a healthy dose of new characters, spiced up the backgrounds, and made it a fast paced, three-on-three "on the fly" tag team match. Sure, some of the matchups are cheap (hello Cable + anyone else), but it's a fun, well made game. Shame they couldn't have added endings though. Giga Wing (PS2)- One of the few shmups to actually make it to the US Dreamcast. Nice graphics, good tunes, multiple characters to choose from, some serious "bullet hell" action, and good challenge from start to finish make this a game not to be missed on the Dreamcast. I feel the sequel is better, but this game holds its own quite well. A YES from me. MegaMan Anniversery Collection (PS2)- The best version of the collection. While I can't give personal commentary on the supposed emulation issues on the GC version, I can say that the XBox version is broken. The screen dimensions are off (looks like it was scaled poorly), the graphics are washed out, and the sound is busted (really quiet music, DAMN LOUD SOUND EFFECTS). So here's the version to get. Basically, it's the first eight MegaMan games, emulated very well, packed in with two arcade games that never got a home release. The MegaMan series was always known for its "fair but tough" challenge, its bosses, its catchy tunes, and its "good for the time" graphics. Each game is fun from start to finish, and perhaps the best aspect of this compilation is simply the fact, that it'll save you a lot of cash over buying the eight games separately (6 NES, 1 SNES, 1 PS1... with the NES ones being the most expensive). It's great example of how to do a compilation right, and a YES to be sure.

Because just as people are able to say how much they love the series, others are able to say the opposite. Be it a thread that's intended to be pro or con about a given subject, both sides are allowed to state their views (assuming it's not "You're an asshole if you like/don't like it"-type stuff... that'll probably get you in hot water ).

Well, hopefully no one will be casting votes based on their playing it once for fifteen minutes five years ago. With any luck, people will be voting based on real experience with the game(s).

"Early Alpha" = "Here's what we have to show, but if it gets slammed hard by everyone, we'll change it and say it was an early rev"

Hmmmm... true. Perhaps I did mix the two a bit. But I do honestly believe both could affect the site in equally bad ways. They might not be able to take legal action over you're rejecting their removal request, but word of mouth can cause just as much hassle. I know the old saying goes "There's no such thing as bad press", but in reality, there is. I'd hate to see this place setting itself up because of the way a line of text is worded, and not expanded upon. Speaking of which... "Once a work is submitted and accepted, OverClocked ReMix reserves the right to reject removal requests on the part of the submitting artist." ... is basically baking into the policy that you can/will reject removal requests by a given remixer. I may be wrong on this, but since you're telling people you can/will reject such things, isn't it a good idea to include how you will go about doing this? That seems like a rather important part of the policy being left out to me. I know it means properly wording even more things, and possibly delaying the policy's implementation, but a few small subsection additions like... * Once a work is submitted and accepted, OverClocked ReMix reserves the right to reject removal requests on the part of the submitting artist. The actions taken upon a removal request may consist of... - A two week postponement of the removal, during which the remixer can review his decision to have his/her remixes removed. At the end of the two weeks, if the remixer still wants their remixes taken down, they will be. - Another way. - Yet another way. Should a given remix be removed from OverClocked Remix at the request of its remixer, that version of their remix will be permanently removed from the site's database, and can not be reinstated. ... don't seem like that big of a hardship. Plus, it'll make the policy that much more clean cut, and less ambiguous. And BTW... "I found Jesus"? No offense intended to whomever had such a reason, but that's a rather odd reason to remove one's music... ... unless of course the remix has someone screaming "SATAN SATAN SATAN, IS YOUR MASTER! LORD OF THE FLIES RULES, FOREVER AFTER!" or something

Nah. It'll be 2010. After all, that's the year we make contact.

Did you read my post re: irrevocable, non-exclusive licenses? Your comment doesn't address the points I raised... I did indeed. The point you made (if I read it correctly) was that you believe there is a way to retain use of the song, without claiming ownership, even if the remixer demands their tune be taken down. That doesn't apply to telling someone "No. We're keeping your remix", which is simply bad form if nothing else. If a remixer throws a hissyfit, and demands you remove all their remixes, telling them "NO" (see what I did there?) creates an interesting problem. With the submission of a removal request, regardless of what may happen a month from then, OCR would in essence be using a remix without the remixer's consent... something I believe this site is against, yes? If you set a standard where you tell the remixer to basically go pound rocks when they submit a removal request for whatever reason, what kind of image is being sent? What kind of problems and issues is this going to raise? It seems this should also be a concern now that OCR is getting bigger. I know the amount of work that would go into pulling remixes from torrents and the like is pretty substantial, but that's why I believe the ideas of a two week "cool off" period, and a "Once a remix is removed, it's gone" clause would work. The first would give them a chance to come to their senses, and the second would mean not having to go through the process of implanting the remix back into the line up. It would also make it so the remixer who submitted the removal request, could still submit future remixes (though perhaps not the same ones that were removed). These aren't the nicest ways of dealing with the problem, but I believe they would be the most effective once they've been spelled out in legalese, and they would do away with what's proving to be one of the biggest sticking points in the policy draft.

Well, that's why I used "seems" instead of "is" djp But in truth, saying OCR can deny the removal request of a remix, while not claiming to want ownership, does appear to be at odds. It comes off as a "It's not mine, but you you can't have it back"-kind of thing.

Maybe

WarCraft II was a good game as well. The settings, vehicles and personality touches put into some of the character voices put it above SC for me as well. RepressedChaos- As Metallica once said, "You know it's sad, but true".

I'm sure millions of people are pissing themselves with excitement right about now. I however, do not a have a level of excitement that might cause me to relieve myself in my shorts. Played the first game, and just didn't find it to be the godsend so many claim it to be. It was a fun enough game, but in truth, I had a lot more enjoyment from WarCraft III and Diablo II. Regardless, there are a lot of happy people now (who will likely be waiting a very long time yet), and I'm happy for them. As I said on .org, wake me if they announce Diablo III.

I'm not so sure it's a resistance to change, as it is not not fully understanding what's being put forth based of how this policy's written. This draft is a WIP if you will, and right now people are trying to get a feel for where it's going. There are parts that don't mesh well to them, and clarification is needed... on both sides. As AD has shown, one section of the policy seems to be at odds with another section, and these things need to be ironed out, and the language cleaned up, before it's finalized. That's what we've got going on right now. Most people know that when a remix is submitted to OCR, the OCR version can be used in just about anything officially authorized by the site admin. Podcasts, sanctioned radio shows, Internet streams, mirror sites, torrents... we all know the songs are going to be there, and we all know people are going to be using them outside of OCR. The issue is, some of the written policy language being used doesn't line up with what's being said by the site staff. I don't deny that people are a bit wary or nervous, because this policy is much like a contract (and as I mentioned to BGC reagrding anyone signing a contract, they want to know what everything means, and how it could be used both for and against them). But this thing becoming "official", as opposed to "assumed" like it was when it was unwritten, just doesn't seem to be the sticking point. The rules are basically the same, and OCR will still use the remixes in the same ways it always has. So again, I'm not seeing a resistance to this going from unwritten to written. I'm seeing people expressing their concerns over this policy's wording, people trying to figure out how it's current wording is going to affect them, and site runners trying to get that wording right so that the policy says what they intend it to say.

Bangai-O- I give this game a full-on YES. Besides being an interesting mix of shmup and exploration, it's an intense, and at times comical game that's got great and detailed 2D graphics, nice tunes, big and plentiful levels, and a great challenge as the game progresses. The action comes at you from all sides, and it does everything it sets out to do quite well. It's not a game that fits squarely into a single genre, but rather it takes various parts of several genres and brings them together in a fun way. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War- This game gets a YES from me. Where 4 had a lot going for it, this one has even more. Very nice graphics, plenty of missions that vary, an interesting story, lots of intense action, and loads of planes to get, make for a well rounded flight sim. Definitely one of the best console flight games out there. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future- This is another game that gets a YES from me. The world this game creates is pulled together so well, it's easy to lose yourself in. The organic graphics flow smoothly around you as you explore the well fleshed out undersea landscape. Soothing tunes follow you as you delve deeper into what's going on, and the urgency created by knowing you're about to run out of air can make things pretty frantic. It's not an easy game, and you can lose track of what you're supposed to do at times, but those are it's only low points. The graphics, music, and gameplay make this a game that's not so much played, as it is experienced.

Ooooooooooooooh. My bad. I misunderstood that part. Well, then to adjust my comments, I feel that the accredited line should have the remixer's handle... or least, the remixer's handle when the mix was accepted by OCR. Both the URL to OCR, and the remixer's handle, are bits of info that belong together when these things are being redistributed. They're both rather important, and I honestly don't see the hardship in telling people both are required. And just to make things easier on yourself for the future, maybe you could add something to the policy statement that covers this. Something like... "When a remix is submitted and accepted, the remixer's handle at the time of that remix's submission will be permanently added to the ID3v2 tags, and to any accreditation tags for the remix's redistribution. Should the remixer decide at a later date to change their handle, the handle on their previous submission(s) will remain unchanged."