Evilhead

Yeah, I own both of the Castlevanias already. I finally got PoR a week or so ago and can't stop playing it. I had been holding out for the English version because I love all the crazy translations of the items. I've already got a pretty good library of DS games (about 15) but from now on it's all piracy baby (aside from any other Castlevania games that come out). I'll check out EBA. Also, homebrew is probably not even bothing with since PSP homebrew blows it out of the water, but are there any intersting DS homebrew apps? Maybe some stylus enabled games or something...

Finally got my hands on two DS lites (I'm giving one to my girlfriend). They are impossible to find for retail here and I lucked out by checking some store out in the sticks. My R4 card with a 1 gig micro SD should be here soon, so now the world of the DS is my oyster. What are some lesser known gems that you guys have liked lately?

If you've already got a FPS why not get VF5? I bet the online play would be excellent.

Personally I'm extremely bored with the Ryu/Ken/Akuma thing, aside from the fact that they should have a place in any SF game. I thought Oro's backstory was really interesting though, especially since he's pretty much (storywise) the strongest character in the SF universe.

What are your sources, by the way?

Yeah, I'd say that 3rd Strike is extremely balanced. True, there are tiers, but pretty much every fighter ever made has tiers. And unless you are playing in a tourney, there's really no reason why you'd have to play with Chun or Yun or whoever. I primarily play as Ibuki who is horribly nerfed in 3rd Strike. But she's just so fun to play with and I can surprise players with my spastic playing style. She gets killed easily with her low def but it's quite satisfying when I can wipe the floor with someone's higher tier character.

Really? That's sad. The arcade on my old college campus (UCI) had a pretty good 2D fighter crowd with some excellent Third Strike players, and most arcades I went to at least had a machine. Pretty much all arcades still have them here, but then again more than half of the games in Japanese arcades seem to be 2D fighters.

Didn't you guys hear about Capcom of Japan selling all of the rights to the Street Fighter series to Capcom of America a few years back? Which means if there is a SF4, it will be developed by an American company, I.E. it will blow donkey. Most likely it will be another failed attempt to bring SF into 3D, although they nearly had it with Project Justice. Great Capcom fighter gameplay made into 3D. If you don't own this game you are missing a lot! And why would they even bother when they went ahead and made the greatest 2D fighter ever, which has yet to be topped, and it is largely ignored outside the hardcore 2D fighter crowd? I'm talking about SF3:TS of course. It's still played here at most arcades (I actually beat some Japanese butt with my Ibuki the day before yesterday) but it just didn't seem to get the reception Alpha 3 did. Too deep? Too many new characters? Who knows.

It's sad when the GBA can't handle an SNES game. PSP emulation for the win. I'm not buying the game a second time when I already payed $80 for it new back when it came out.

The new firmware version 3.03 allows you to download PS1 games with your PS3 and play them on your PSP perfectly. If you install DarkAlex's 3.03OE-B custom firmware on your PSP, you can not only do this without the need for a PS3 (you can rip the games with your PC), but you can play ALL of the 1.5 homebrew software like the emulators, flash players, etc, as well as any of the newest PSP games. Here's more detailed info and links to the necessary software: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=918340&topic=32973596

Simple solution: 1. Place PS1 FFVII CDs in computer. 2. Rip to ISO. 3. Convert to an eboot using Popstation. 4. Place on memory stick. 5. Play on your PSP with perfect framerate, textures, sound, etc. You don't even have to pirate it if you have the original PS1 discs.

Yeah maybe after you do Raithwall's tomb?

I used to live in spics.

I think this game took after a lot of the Western RPGs. Most JRPGs are extremely character/story based, while with American RPGs you are often a standard group of adventurers in a big world with big things going on. That's kind of how FFXII is. You are involved with the story, but you are free to roam and RPG it up. I just wish there were some more side quests like the mini games featured in other FF games (chocobo raising/racing, card came, blitzball, etc). The hunts are nice, but I would have liked to see a bit more variety. Still, a great game, and a great step forward for the series.

Okami Katamari Damacy

I blame the lack of public transport in America. I occasionally play in bed, but usually I'll just play my consoles when I'm at home. But a DS or PSP makes an hour long train ride seem like 15 minutes. At the doctor's office waiting for your appointment? Same deal. If I go camping or on a weekend trip I bring it along for any unexpected times of boredom. I even bring it to work for a little gaming during my down time. Using a portable system exclusively at home seems rather pointless to me.

[big List] Not to be a jerk or anything, but almost all of those games are either ports or nearly the same as their PS2 counterpart. It might be a good game, but when I can play it on my TV instead of on a handheld and get the exact same experience, I'd rather do that. In all honesty, most people play their handhelds at home, including myself. I'm not buying a PSP for a remake of GTA or Tekken when I can play something superior. Why are you playing a handheld at home? Granted, I've played my PSP and DS a few times at my house, especially when I was into animal crossing, but the whole point of a portable system is to be able to play it anywhere. For people who like the franchises on the PS2, playing a sequel, port, or new version of their favorite games on the go is the draw of the PSP library.

Possible with PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, others, even your PC! Possible with the previously mentioned consoles, as well as the PC (with a $6 adapater). Also possible with any of the consoles. PCs allow online multiplayer, and the PSP offers wireless multiplayer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the classic controller wired? Either way, this really doesn't affect gameplay. Most emulators for other consoles are very simple as well. Just pop in the CD or DVD, then pick your ROM/game from a list. Save states are usually accessed in the pause/menu screen. Most emulation for the 16 bit systems and below are 100% accurate and run at 100% speed on the the consoles I mentioned, aside from the PS1 which can't handle too much. Or you can just download a torrent of a disc image of a full set of ROMs, burn it, pop it into your systems, and you're ready to go. Dreamcast, PSP, and PS1 can emulate with absolutely no mods. Other than that, my warranty is long gone for all of my consoles anyway. Yes, online play is cool. Hopefully we'll see more of it. Yes, basically for lazy/dumb people who don't know what emulation is and don't know how to burn a disc image. But emulating on consoles is extremely easy, and you can have entire romsets for free, rather than paying $5 or $10 a ROM. The ONLY benefit I can see for emulating on the Wii is feeling like you're not stealing anything. But you pretty much are. It would be like if I payed a ROM site $3 to download a ROM. How much of that money goes to the original developers? How much does Nintendo keep? How much gets paid to the actual people who programmed and created the game? Nintendo is just a middleman, selling other people's games for cash. It's simple and streamlined, but I just don't think it's worth paying for, especially since there is only a pathetic amount of games offered. From Nintendo's point of view, a CD rom with 300 NES ROMs burned on it should be sold for $1,500. Ridiculous.

Damn, now I really have to pick up that 2 gig memory stick. Perfect PS1 emulation here I come!

There should be a picture of a famous video game character like Mario, Zelda, or Sonic, and you have to type in what video game character it is. Don't see how bots could deal with that.

Yes there is. Street Fighter 3:Third Strike Good answer. Also, why do people suddenly get into console emulation when you have to pay for it? If you're telling me playing a NES/Genesis/whatever ROM on your Wii is any different than playing it on your Dreamcast/PS1/PS2/Xbox/etc you are full of it.

Here's my sex mix, take what you like: 1. Theme From 2001 2. Scatman 3. Raffi's Bananaphone, 4. Pac-Man theme song techno remix 5. Ace of Base "I Saw the Sign" 6. The Birthday Song The rest of the CD is children's choir music and Kidz Bop selections. Great for sex.

Christmas morning and I'm at work. Oh well, I already celebrated. Christmas in Japan is pretty much a joke anyway. It's just a time for couples to screw in hotels.

Why get an inferior version of this game? CPS1 emulation is easy enough, if anything.

What I meant was that the second hand market was saturated. When you have PS3s trickling in to retail shops and almost EVERY launch PS3 being sold on eBay you can't expect them all to sell for $1200. Some did, but the people who bought them were idiots.