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[Choc]

Correct me if i am wrong

but the new model 360s dont come with 3 years warranty

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Wait, so is Mass Effect a shooter or is it an RPG? I'm confused. I'm assuming it's some sort of hybrid.

I'm deadly serious about not playing non-handheld RPGs by the way. I get two, maybe three hours of gaming in front of the TV or on my PC per week, tops. If I started a 100 hour game, it'd take me the better part of a year to finish it.

 

[Agyar]

All hardware fails though agyar. So you're screwed either way. At least with a PC you can have fun fixing it and hitting things with a hammer

I wonder if people would feel more favourably towards Microsoft if they were sent some software and told to figure it out themselves when their 360 red-ringed.

 

[codswallop]

It was rather cinematic in presentation though wasn't it?

I loved the presentation of the first -- it felt like a low budget 70s sci-fi flick. The sequel, as enjoyable as it was, totally dropped that feel with the over-the-top bombastic score which let me down.

 

[Omikron]

The second one stops pretending it was ever an RPG in the first place and just gives you an extremely well paced shooter with some fun characters and dialog. It has a shitty story, sure, but it says Bioware on the cover so that's a given.

I will be honest and say the combination of Bioware and Shooter doesn't particularly get my blood pumping to the nether regions.

 

[Fredescu]

Wait, so is Mass Effect a shooter or is it an RPG? I'm confused. I'm assuming it's some sort of hybrid.

Shooter gameplay, RPG window dressing.

 

[legend166]

Wait, so is Mass Effect a shooter or is it an RPG? I'm confused. I'm assuming it's some sort of hybrid.

I'm deadly serious about not playing non-handheld RPGs by the way. I get two, maybe three hours of gaming in front of the TV or on my PC per week, tops. If I started a 100 hour game, it'd take me the better part of a year to finish it.

The first Mass Effect was a third person shooter/RPG hybrid. Good game, although I heard the interface sucked on the 360 version which really hurt the RPG aspects.

So instead of fixing said RPG aspects in the sequel they threw them all out and basically made a straight up 3rd person shooter with dialogue trees and a very rudimentary levelling system.

I thought the sequel was pretty disappointing. It's just a series of side missions where everything devolves into shooting other people in the face. Even when you think you're about to solve a mission without shooting people in the face, you have to shoot people in the face. I thought the cover/shooting mechanics were rather dodgy, but I seem to be in the minority there. I never ended up beating the game. I think I did around 9/12 side missions.

 

[Fredescu]

The side missions in the first game reminded me of a 3D0 tech demo where you had just random landscape and a strangely handling vehicle. It was fun in 1994. I like side missions, so it took me a few attempts to actually finish Mass Effect. It wasn't until after I took the "stay the fuck away from the side missions!" advice that I saw the ending.

 

[hamchan]

Mass Effect 2 is pretty much a third person shooter with RPG dialogue options. It's an amazing game.

 

[MrSerrels]

The thing I like about Mass Effect 2 is really the dialogue choices, the story and the universe. I think it's the only game that's really worthwhile in those areas.

 

[Agyar]

The first Mass Effect was a third person shooter/RPG hybrid. Good game, although I heard the interface sucked on the 360 version which really hurt the RPG aspects.

The interface was fine on 360, especially considering the PC version only came along 6 months later. People just went in expecting to control the whole party (like previous Bioware RPGs) and were outraged when you could only direct squad members to take cover, assume a position or use a special ability on a target. The only thing the PC version changed is that it became slightly easier to issue those squad commands, which was never really a problem anyway as you don't need to micro-manage your squads location at all.

 

[Nemesis_]

Correct me if i am wrong

but the new model 360s dont come with 3 years warranty

Three years is for the red ring only.

New 360's apparently do not get the red ring.

Thus, no three years for the new Xbox.

 

[Mar]

All hardware fails though agyar. So you're screwed either way. At least with a PC you can have fun fixing it and hitting things with a hammer

That's the least fun thing you can do in my opinion.

The reliability of PC hardware is not something that bothers me, all hardware fails at some point. What annoys me is driver updates, conflicts, unwanted resident software, etc. In the end when I want to play a game, I want to press a button and play a game.

It goes without saying that consoles going the way they are is frustrating to me. With broken products shipped and the casual attitude to 'just patch it later', and various other issues related to consoles that update themselves constantly. It's annoying to see this slowly gaining all the bad things about computer gaming.

So far, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion. Digitally delivered content has proved to be a great thing that extends the life of games as well as many other good things. But I can see where it's heading and I don't particularly like it.

 

[evlcookie]

I haven't had any of those issues you mentioned in more years than i can remember. These days it's not so bad, unless you do something really really stupid.

But i agree the industry is heading towards an iffy place and i'm not a fan of it. There a lot of things i don't like about this "generation" like DLC being the #1 issue. But that's another story.

 

[Omikron]

I haven't had any of those issues you mentioned in more years than i can remember. These days it's not so bad, unless you do something really really stupid.

Mmm, that argument about it being hard to update stuff is so incredibly tired.


I will never switch to consoles only until they allow me to use my keyboard/mouse as a choice for input device(s).

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I haven't had any of those issues you mentioned in more years than i can remember. These days it's not so bad, unless you do something really really stupid.

But i agree the industry is heading towards an iffy place and i'm not a fan of it. There a lot of things i don't like about this "generation" like DLC being the #1 issue. But that's another story.

I don't like the fact that everything is so multiplayer-focused. It means I have no hope of ever having any fun in a game (because people who play online have the time to get good at the game whereas I don't).

 

[Fredescu]

But I can see where it's heading and I don't particularly like it.

I often wonder if consoles are going to cede a lot of the market to handhelds like they did in Japan as they grow in complexity. Consoles are often far from a "press button and play" experience now, and with the three manufacturers constantly competing they're only going to get more complex. You can see it in the posts about people fixing up their friends PS3 that was horribly misconfigured and whatnot. No doubt in the world PC gaming is more complex, but you're right that consoles are headed in that direction.

I will never switch to consoles only until they allow me to use my keyboard/mouse as a choice for input device(s).

 

[Nemesis_]

I don't feel that motion controls are a worthy substitute for a keyboard and mouse. Something still feels off.

 

[rass]

I don't feel that motion controls are a worthy substitute for a keyboard and mouse. Something still feels off.

your hands, they are off the bench.

Spoiler

http://instantrimshot.com/

 

[Bernbaum]

Harvey Norman have lifted their price for the Move starter pack from $68 to $99 - the same price as most other retailers. It's also a little hard to find in some places. $70 was about the right price for me to adopt it this early, especially since there isn't a single game that appeals - I really just wanted to sample the tech.

We don't watch a minute of commercial TV in our household. Has there been much advertisement for it since it launched?

 

[rass]

Harvey Norman have lifted their price for the Move starter pack from $68 to $99 - the same price as most other retailers. It's also a little hard to find in some places. $70 was about the right price for me to adopt it this early, especially since there isn't a single game that appeals - I really just wanted to sample the tech.

We don't watch a minute of commercial TV in our household. Has there been much advertisement for it since it launched?

it's $74 at Costco if anyone wanted it a bit cheaper and knows a member.

I try to ignore tv but my gf loves it. makes it hard. I don't pay much attention to what is being advertised unfortunately.

 

[jambo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMLrpnjwyTU

God damn Sonic Colours actually looks good!

 

[legend166]

That's the least fun thing you can do in my opinion.

The reliability of PC hardware is not something that bothers me, all hardware fails at some point. What annoys me is driver updates, conflicts, unwanted resident software, etc. In the end when I want to play a game, I want to press a button and play a game.

It goes without saying that consoles going the way they are is frustrating to me. With broken products shipped and the casual attitude to 'just patch it later', and various other issues related to consoles that update themselves constantly. It's annoying to see this slowly gaining all the bad things about computer gaming.

So far, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in my opinion. Digitally delivered content has proved to be a great thing that extends the life of games as well as many other good things. But I can see where it's heading and I don't particularly like it.

All that stuff is easier than ever. Unless you go around clicking on every banner ad in existence and pay no attention to what you're doing, getting spyware/adware or even a virus is so hard these days. I've just installed Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free, and covers everything.

Driver updates are incredibly easy, too. nvidia just has a button that you press which tells you what drivers you have and what to download. I can't remember the last time I had a driver conflict.

Like you said, consoles are starting to get some of the annoying things from the PC side. But at the same time, they're getting none of the advantages. They are still as closed as ever. If anything, they're more closed since you can't get things like game genies and mess around with games that you have purchased.

PC gaming has never been easier or cheaper, ESPECIALLY for us living in Australia. Buying games on Steam has forever ruined my perception of what I'll pay for a game. And even when those wanker publishers try to screw us over, gifting saves the day.




On an entirely unrelated note, Choc; do we have a firm release date for Rock Band 3? I don't want to waste my time walking 15 minutes to JB on Thursday if the game won't be there.

 

[Lafiel]

ME 1 and 2 have their highs and lows, ME1 had a better plot, virtually everything else was better in ME2

I'm hoping ME3 would be a combination of everything that was great about ME1 & ME2 with none of the low points.

I'm deadly serious about not playing non-handheld RPGs by the way. I get two, maybe three hours of gaming in front of the TV or on my PC per week, tops. If I started a 100 hour game, it'd take me the better part of a year to finish it.

You could finish mass effect in four weeks in that case! :lol

Even when you think you're about to solve a mission without shooting people in the face, you have to shoot people in the face.

Not really any different from the first ME game. I don't remember many non-combat scenarios in that game.

 

[Bernbaum]

I fired up a game of ME1 two days ago and this discussion delights me immensely. Considerring how high Bioware aimed with the concept, I think it's a sensational effort whatever anyone's criticisms of the game might be.

 

[Fredescu]

All that stuff is easier than ever

There is absolutely no question that it's more complex than consoles. When someone says: "In the end when I want to play a game, I want to press a button and play a game" it's time to put the soapbox away and accept that some people want different things out of their gaming devices.

 

[KAP151]

Any chance of Fallout releasing early tomorrow?

I'm fucking dying here!

 

[Darklord]

Any chance of Fallout releasing early tomorrow?

I'm fucking dying here!

Considering the same is apparently so buggy reviewers recommend not playing it until it's fixed, maybe it's best we are getting delays on this one.:lol

 

[MrSerrels]

On an entirely unrelated note, Choc; do we have a firm release date for Rock Band 3? I don't want to waste my time walking 15 minutes to JB on Thursday if the game won't be there.

I'm not choc, but I've been told by EA that the street date was the 28th, not the 21st. But all the retailers websites have it as the 21st, which is supposedly the shipping date.

A bit confusing, but I'm going with the 28th, with someone probably breaking the street date.

 

[FormallyMegadrive]

Some good (bad) tv viewing is waiting for me at home after work but the support guy at ocz sent me an app for my SSD. The nerd in me wants to ditch everything and check it out. I have no idea what it's meant to do :lol

Hopefully it confirms that my drive is somewhat faulty and causing the file corruption issues in windows after a few weeks of use. Otherwise it's back to the drawing board with what could be wrong.

Feel my pain. FEEL IT.

 

[legend166]

I'm not choc, but I've been told by EA that the street date was the 28th, not the 21st. But all the retailers websites have it as the 21st, which is supposedly the shipping date.

A bit confusing, but I'm going with the 28th, with someone probably breaking the street date.

Choc is EA, so hopefully he can confirm :lol

 

[Dead Man]

Any chance of Fallout releasing early tomorrow?

I'm fucking dying here!

I just grabbed it for $40 from ozgameshop, couldn't resist for that price. I don't care if it's a bit delayed, I have no time anyway, and yeah, sounds like patches are needed, especially since I only have 2 year old laptop to play it on.

 

[Agyar]

I just grabbed it for $40 from ozgameshop, couldn't resist for that price. I don't care if it's a bit delayed, I have no time anyway, and yeah, sounds like patches are needed, especially since I only have 2 year old laptop to play it on.

Is it wrong that I'm glad I didn't really enjoy Fallout 3, as now I don't feel compelled to add New Vegas to my already bloated wish list?

 

[Nemesis_]

I'm not choc, but I've been told by EA that the street date was the 28th, not the 21st. But all the retailers websites have it as the 21st, which is supposedly the shipping date.

A bit confusing, but I'm going with the 28th, with someone probably breaking the street date.

At least you say stuff. Thanks Mark. <3

Is it wrong that I'm glad I didn't really enjoy Fallout 3, as now I don't feel compelled to add New Vegas to my already bloated wish list?

No, it's not. I liked Fallout 3 and I'm still not interested in New Vegas. It just seems like more of the same to me, which is great if you were mega obsessed with Fallout 3, but not that great if you were indifferent to it.

There's so many much cooler things coming out anyway. Vanquish says hi. =P

 

[BSS]

I'm pretty sure I should be buying the RB3 keyboard as well as the MIDI adapter (so I can replace my GH drum kit as an intermediary to my other drum kit). Just wondering if I should be holding out for it to appear somewhere I can buy them both together.

They are going to start shipping tomorrow and someone on the Rock Band forums from New Zealand said it only took 3 days to arrive...

How is that possible?

 

[Agyar]

Started playing Enslaved, got a little bit into the second chapter (first being the content of the demo). The tone of the setting reminds me a little bit of Darksiders, which is interesting because (as most of you will know), I was not entirely impressed by that game yet I am easily drawn in by Enslaved. There's some subtle difference in the way the environments are crafted in Enslaved (so far at least) that just lets me buy into the deserted post-apocolyptic setting. Darksiders, on the other hand, felt like video game levels full of undead guys with cars to throw at them.

 

[Dead Man]

Is it wrong that I'm glad I didn't really enjoy Fallout 3, as now I don't feel compelled to add New Vegas to my already bloated wish list?

Nah, I sort of wish I hadn't loved FO3 so much, then I wouldn't need it! But I need something to get me over the GT5 delay *sobs and eats a cookie* :lol

 

[Bernbaum]

So I'm in the gym and I knock over my changebag and out falls my DSi and a copy of Drew Karpyshyn's 'Mass Effect: Revelation' - a scifi novel with a goddamn space alien on the cover, just as a wonderfully unmasculine Belle and Sebastian track starts blaring out of my iPhone and I madly scramble to maintain an element of machismo in front of a group of muscledudes who are in much better shape than I.

/NERD ALERT

 

[Dead Man]

So I'm in the gym and I knock over my changebag and out falls my DSi and a copy of Drew Karpyshyn's 'Mass Effect: Revelation' - a scifi novel with a goddamn space alien on the cover, just as a wonderfully unmasculine Belle and Sebastian track starts blaring out of my iPhone and I madly scramble to maintain an element of machismo in front of a group of muscledudes who are in much better shape than I.

/NERD ALERT

They were probably checking out your changebag and appreciating your music taste. Muscle dudes tend to be... less masculine in private.

 

[Mush]

HELLO AUSTRALIANS. May I have an invite to your beloved Steam group? I mean no harm and I promise I won't bite. I currently have L4D2 and I have TF2 on the way.

 

[Bernbaum]

Mana Bar coming to Melbourne.

 

[MrSerrels]

Choc is EA, so hopefully he can confirm :lol

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I had no idea!

 

[evlcookie]

Mana Bar coming to Melbourne.

We knew it was but not sure where it was. So it's in fitzroy and coming mid december. That's going to be packed for a while since it's leading upto christmas.

Mush - What's your steam ID? Just send me a msg over steam (evlcookie)

 

[Ventron]

Oh dear :lol

http://twitpic.com/2yyf4c

Spoiler

Poor Gaz and Gooboo, I hope things turn out well for all Kromans

 

[hirokazu]

Does anyone have any experience with Zavvi and damaged goods? My Dead Rising 2: Zombrex Edition has arrived today after 3 weeks, but the steelbook case is mangled beyond repair. D:<

Pretty pissed given how long I've waited to play it.

This highlights what I've always liked about Play-Asia, you can choose to ship in a box filled with environmentally unfriendly packing peanuts. I don't understand why these UK shops don't give customers an option other than their no-frills envelope.

I'd rather pay a bit more to ensure my order arrives safely than have this shit happen.

Now I'm guessing they're gonna wait till they receive the damaged one back from me before they ship out a replacement, so at least another month wait. Fuck.

 

[Nemesis_]

Does anyone have any experience with Zavvi and damaged goods? My Dead Rising 2: Zombrex Edition has arrived today after 3 weeks, but the steelbook case is mangled beyond repair. D:<

Pretty pissed given how long I've waited to play it.

This highlights what I've always liked about Play-Asia, you can choose to ship in a box filled with environmentally unfriendly packing peanuts. I don't understand why these UK shops don't give customers an option other than their no-frills envelope.

I'd rather pay a bit more to ensure my order arrives safely than have this shit happen.

Now I'm guessing they're gonna wait till they receive the damaged one back from me before they ship out a replacement, so at least another month wait. Fuck.

I just ordered a Castlevania guide, it came from Play Asis with the first chapter being placed in the middle of the book. I sent photos and they sent out another one via UPS at no charge. I didn't even have to return the item.

Though now, I received the replacement, and it's fucking MISSING the whole first chapter. They want more photos. I can't provide them right now. But it's just irritating that this even happens.

I am surprised that I didn't need to return the item or anything either lol

 

[hirokazu]

I just ordered a Castlevania guide, it came from Play Asis with the first chapter being placed in the middle of the book. I sent photos and they sent out another one via UPS at no charge. I didn't even have to return the item.

Though now, I received the replacement, and it's fucking MISSING the whole first chapter. They want more photos. I can't provide them right now. But it's just irritating that this even happens.

I am surprised that I didn't need to return the item or anything either lol

Can't say about the item you ordered, but Play-Asia not needing the return of the original is pretty great. I wish Zavvi is like that so I can at least play it while waiting for the replacement to arrive, but that's very unlikely.

 

[rass]

I ordered a book from Foundry Miniatures a few months ago (AU$55 inc shipping) and they accidentally sent the wrong one, which was valued the same. They told me to keep it and expressed me the one I ordered. Customer satisfaction total.

Also, I have an old issue of extreme64 or n64 gamer or something where the first 16 pages repeat in the middle of the magazine. Now that making sure that kind of shit doesn't happen is part of my job, I can only imagine the profuse sweating the responsible party must have undergone when their mistake was discovered.

 

[untoldhero]

HELLO AUSTRALIANS. May I have an invite to your beloved Steam group? I mean no harm and I promise I won't bite. I currently have L4D2 and I have TF2 on the way.

You'll have to wait till Evl or Kritz resurface!

 

[Nemesis_]

Can't say about the item you ordered, but Play-Asia not needing the return of the original is pretty great. I wish Zavvi is like that so I can at least play it while waiting for the replacement to arrive, but that's very unlikely.

It's just a bit shitty though that they let the same problem happen twice. Needless to say I am quite disappointed.