The Coop

True, but what they say according to their ratings system, isn't necessarily how going to be how it's perceived by others (or used by others as well, since we all know how companies love higher numbers to spout off about). Lots of stuff with 7s that got 5s from others, 8s that got 5.5s or 6s from others... it all might ring as GI being less critical at a glance to people, even with the reviews basically saying the same things overall between the various magazines/sites. It again falls to the "on paper" comment I made, and that's something I believe is part of the anti-GI/Gamestop argument, as GI giving an average rating looks better than say, GamePro or EGM giving an average rating. Anyway, that's my take on it. GI may be 100% honest and truthful with their reviews, and I'm not going to comment on that one way or the other. I haven't picked up an issue in many years (a decade I think), so I can't speak of their current status and crew. I'm just trying to shed a little light on why some folks don't see GI in the same light as yourself and others. Hopefully I did that without being prickish or confrontational

I have a feeling more people understand GI's rating system than you think, and that's why they get bent out of shape over it. If I were to continue the X-Files stuff, with other review sources having a 5 as average, GI's system can be construed as inflating scores by making their "average" what others have labeled as "good" when you take the GI/Gamestop connection into account. GI may be honestly sticking with their rating system, but on paper, the higher scores look better regardless of the rating system behind them... both to customers and to game companies (both of which can benefit Gamestop). GI has 7 as "average", with 5 as "passable". That seems like a good sized area for what could be considered average overall (average is passable in school after all). Get someone who really questions the GI/Gamestop relationship, and the theories will be off and running.[/DA mode] Again, I'm not saying it's happening, or that it's even happened in the past. I'm just trying to take a completely objective look at both sides of this, and why people are saying these things. And as I do this, to be truthful, the scenario is certainly there for it to happen, given the arrangement Gamestop and GI have. As such, what I am saying, is that I can understand why people make the accusations, even if there's no proof of wrong doing. Society as whole is a lot more suspicious of things than it used it be, which is why people are so questioning about the GI/Gamestop stuff. When you couple that with the fact that Gamestop has done some pretty shitty things to their employees and customers over the years, it's like Mr. Jackson being seen with a kid that's not his... the accusations fly. It's no great stretch of the imagination given the company's history and other informational tidbits, you know? And that's likely why people question the integrity of GI's reviews, and overall honesty. just64helpin- Yeah, that was an interesting coincidence, wasn't it?

Actually, they can have a biased magazine, even if they don't make it themselves. It's well known that GI is essentially Gamestop's magazine (it's the only place to get GI after all), much like GMR was EB's (same situation). Even if GI isn't owned by Gamestop, they obviously have a deal of some kind going. Now, if one were to roll with what's been suggested about GI, Gamestop could make sure its big incoming titles get good reviews. If Gamestop wants everyone to preorder and buy Halo Wars due to the popularity of the franchise, yet GI gives it a horrid score before it hits store shelves, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot with their own gun. So even if it is a bit conspiracy theory-like, Gamestop could have a biased magazine that takes steps to help them out with game sales, and not hurt them. Keep in mind, I'm just playing devil's advocate here.

I was tempted to try this, despite never being one for beta testing OSes. But the 32bit file size (3+ GB? Damn...), coupled with my XP being an OEM version, pulled me back to reality. I had too may questions in my head, and since I know OEM OSes don't get the same treatment as full-on purchased ones, I figured I'd leave well enough alone.

http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=4549175 Looks like there's to be a bittersweet finalé for the magazine. "Milkman" stated in his blog that the finished February issue is going to be released digitally in the near future. Seems the crew worked on it to completion, despite knowing the fate that awaited them and the magazine. No specific date's been given, but it's coming soon(ish).

I can't speak for everyone, but magazines were a part (key word being "part") of my decision making process. Perhaps it's the habitually oldschool side of me, but as a kid, I spent plenty of time flipping though magazines to find out what info I could throughout the 90s, EGM had become a regular staple for me. Later, when the Internet became reachable in my home in 2001, I still looked to magazines like EGM, GMR, and a couple others for more viewpoints on given games (not to mention for article reads). No game purchase was ever bought solely on a single review from anyone, but magazine reviews were one source of opinions on the games I was interested in. Even when most of the systems I owned were no longer covered due to their dying off, and the Internet was giving out news days and weeks before any magazine, I still liked to grab the new issues and read through them. There's something about holding and flipping through a magazine you've been reading for years that you just don't get surfing online. Anyway, I know this is going to sound silly and sentimental, but I think one of the main reasons the news bummed me out, was because it was the only magazine left that I had been reading when I was young gamer. GameFan, Next Generation, Mega Play, Game Players... they all vanished years ago. And with EGM closing up shop after nearly 20 years (and it being bought for/by me every month for well over half of that time), my younger gaming self, which still resides in the back of my mind somewhere, can't help but go "What? Aw maaan... I liked EGM".

And that's why I was never fond of GI's reviews. It usually read like they were making up my mind for me, rather than giving me their experiences with the game. I don't want people who rate a game on how they think the general public might like it, and skew their scores accordingly. That just rings very wrong to me. I'd rather they rate on it on how they felt about it, while giving me facts and personal insights/opinions about the game. I'd rather read the review of someone rating a game on how they felt about it, than the review of someone who's rating a game based on how they think John Q. Public will feel about it. Edit: Don't take my comments the wrong way, Atomicfog. I'm not jumping on your case or anything. Everyone looks for different things in reviews. GI meshed with you, and that's cool. It just never meshed with me.

Game Informer and the word "decent" don't go in the same sentence for me. I tried to read that magazine for a while, but the visual style, writing and coverage just felt... "meh". Not to mention, I disagreed with their reviews more often than not during the 16bit/32bit/Dreamcast eras, and things like that tend to keep you from coming back.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21759 http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/208505/egm-closes-1up-sold-in-ziff-davis-shakeup/ And so, one of the longest running gaming magazines closes its doors. I know some folks have felt that EGM has been shit for a long time, but I personally have been reading it for years, and still enjoyed picking up and flipping through the issues. It's disappointing to learn that after all these years, EGM bites the dust before the horrid GamePro The only question remaining is, is the issue that's supposed to come out next week the final one, or is the one that came out last month the final one? "January 2009" could go either way.

Really? I've always felt the series hit its peak with S3&K. To me, it's a fantastic combination of speed, exploration, graphics, level design, music, and replayability. It's also huge, keeps the cast small yet diverse, and is quite a challenge without being cheap or stupidly drawn out. I'm not knocking Sonic 2 mind you, as I too think it's a great entry. But it would rank second behind S3&K for me.

You didn't like Sonic CD, Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles or Sonic 3D Blast?

Wow. The wind from that suck up nearly took my eyebrows off

And with that, I've added an MT-32 guide to this. Just scroll up a bit to the now rather long post of mine on page 2.

Then you guys best keep a sharp eye out for Kenyans, because by the time you hear their running footsteps, it'll be too late.

Yeah, that was a good album by Alice Cooper.

While you guys are over there, could you find the ones that made the Powerthirst parody video currently on OCR's front page, and pummel them with a Kenyan? Thanks.

Prince of Persia

Hmmm... worst movie ever. Well, going with what I've watched, it's a toss up between The Crow: City of Angles, or Wheels of Terror. The first was so horrifically dull that I couldn't even sit through all of it (and I've sat all the way through some pretty horrid movies), and the second has a twenty minute final car chase that's littered with pointless slow motion shots, in order to give a climactic finish to an equally slow and dull movie (it's like The Car, only with every semblance of anything interesting sucked right out of it).

I was tempted to get Bioshock, but a 6GB download, coupled with no way to save the download because of its size, pretty much shot that in the ass. I'll just have to wait until the game's $9.99 at EB or Wal-mart.

Alrighty. The GUS files are up, and the links have all been tested. Everything's good to go for those wanting to have that familiar sound from their younger days, or hear the music in their DOS games in a different fashion. I'm currently writing the next part of this guide, so stay tuned. Oh, and sorry it took so long. I spent the weekend enjoying some movies (The Mist, The Dark Knight, The Mummy 3, etc.).

Good luck, Prophet. Here's hoping the third try's the charm for this project.

Do you know how many times that font has been linked to over the years? I was using it on stuff back in 2003. I guess you didn't ask the right people for the font type. That, or the right people didn't see your requests. I'm honestly surprised you never saw it up until now.

While you're out and about, you can check out some Master System tunes as well... http://www.smspower.org/music/vgm/index.shtml *Note: The songs with "FM" next to them, come from the Sega Mark III, or the Japanese version of the system. The Mark III had an FM module add-on that could be used for the music, making the FM versions sound very different from the PSG versions (better in most cases).

The thing I'd like to see in the next Windows, is a better backwards compatibility feature. With each new Windows version, we've lost more games and/or software due to it not running as well (if at all) in the new OS. It happened with 2K, ME, XP, and Vista. Surely Microsoft knows how to do it, and what core parts of previous OSes they'd need to replicate to do this. Set the compatibility mode, the executable then uses the needed files tucked away in a specific spot in the System folder, and then all of us can continue to enjoy our 80s and 90s games without having to apply buggy user patches, or third party emulators like DOSBox and Glidos. I can't imagine it's that hard to do for them... is it?

Would you guys like me to install handrails on my back so that you can climb onto it more easily? I didn't know, the post's been fixed, we've all learned a happy fact of some type that we didn't know before this evening, NOW LET'S MOVE ON, SHALL WE?! (he says with a smarmy, British accent) **takes a few deep breathes** I spent some time listening to the other songs on the album, and I have to say, it turned out quite well. Nice work everyone