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[Tabris]

2 quick questions.

1) I bought a Sony 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo High Speed (does the High Speed version work?)

2) I paid $280 CDN for it. How bad of a rip off is it?

I found out the 1GB's won't be at EB until April 14th, and Futureshop didn't have any, so I tried London Drugs downtown and it had the high speed version only.

 

[Wario64]

WARNING TO PEOPLE DOING THE EBGAMES TRADE IN DEAL

There's an update at CAG saying that all EBgames received a corporate email saying demos will not be accepted in trade in promotions. So Jampacks and Xbox Exhibition discs aren't going to be accepted. I don't know if this means the Outlaw Golf exclusive games are excluded too. You could try trading those demos today before they read the email, but you might not be so lucky after today

 

[fugimax]

Not sure if this has been posted, but by going to the downloads section in wipeout, my PSP tries to connect to 160.33.44.80 which is owned by sony. My router shows it is webtraffic, but I haven't tried to see what page it's accessing yet. As of now, that IP just takes you to us.playstation.com.

 

[Wario64]

Just got the last copy of Wipeout Pure. Phew

Also, 1 EB denied my jampack disc, but another EB accepted it. I was worried that tomorrow might be too late to trade them in

 

[LinesInTheSand]

So asides from Demos are they taking pretty much everything? What about Shenmue 2, Genma Onimusha, Mechssault and the JSRF/Sega GT2k2 disc for Xbox and FFX GH for PS2 and Metroid Prime

 

[Wario64]

So asides from Demos are they taking pretty much everything?

No, the exclusion list is here:

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/ads/shops/instoretradein/exclusions.asp

 

[DMczaf]

Ok, I need 1 cheap used game to complete another deal.

Wario, give me some names!

 

[newsguy]

NFSU Rivals review at IGN

7.9

I think removing the story and free-roaming environment we saw in the most recent NFSU games has allowed EA time for all the additional stuff. And that's a good thing, because I personally felt that NFSU2's roamable city was undercooked content padding, and its plot threadbare and painfully hip. NFSU Rivals gets back to the basics, but I miss the intuitive performance tuning of NFUS2, the analog stick is disappointingly implemented, and the AI isn't elastic enough. Rivals is better in some ways than previous entries in the franchise, but it's worse in the place that matters the most: the actual race. Like other rubber band racers, it's addictive--up to a point. Then you get stuck on that same race several times, going back and forth with cars whose doors you should have blown off at the starting line, and you wish the race model was a wee bit looser. I'll be sticking with Ridge Racer.

 

[Miburou]

2 quick questions.

1) I bought a Sony 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo High Speed (does the High Speed version work?)

2) I paid $280 CDN for it. How bad of a rip off is it?

I found out the 1GB's won't be at EB until April 14th, and Futureshop didn't have any, so I tried London Drugs downtown and it had the high speed version only.

1) According to someone on this board who has one, yes the HS stick does work on the PSP.

2) I don't know how much of a rip-off that is, but you could buy 2 512MB sticks from FS and save $60. EDIT: I see that they're out of stock. I bought one around 3-4 weeks ago from them.

 

[Wario64]

Ok, I need 1 cheap used game to complete another deal.

Wario, give me some names!

I saw these at my Gamestop:

Stunt GP (PS2) = $5.99
Ribbit King (GC) = $8.99
Outlaw Golf: 9 more holes... (Xbox) = $4.99 (actually i'm not sure if this works since it might be considered a "demo", but CAGers had no problem trading it today)
Future Tactics (GC/Xbox) = $2.99-3.99
Spiderman (Xbox) = $8.99
Black and Bruised (PS2) = $7.99



Malice works too I think, about $10. Forgot what else works that's cheap


I think these titles work but I don't know what the prices are:

Xbox

Colin McRae Rally 04
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
Dance Dance Revolution UltraMix
Dead or Alive 3
MTG
Outlaw Golf 2
Powerdrome racing
Silent Hill 2
Unreal 2
Vodoo Vince
Wakeboarding
Exhibition Volume 5
Outlaw Golf BB exclusive

GC

Crash Bandicoot WoC
Cubix: Robots for Everyone
F-zero
Freak Flyers
Gauntlet Dark Legacy
Pitfall
Spider-Man
SSX Tricky
Star Fox Adventures
Star Wars: Rebel Strike demo
Super Monkey Ball
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Zapper


PS2

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies
Chaos Legion
Cubix: Robots for Everyone
Devil May Cry 2
Dynasty Warriors 3
Gungrave: Overdose
Jak & Daxter 1
Jampack 11 rated M
Jampack Volume 11 (Winter 2004)
Kingom Hearts
Klonoa 2
Midnight Club II
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance
Ray-Man 3
Rayman Hoodlum Havoc
Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
Samurai Warriors
Silent hill 3
SSX3
Timesplitters 2
Tony Hawk's Underground
Astro Boy

 

[JPRaup]

Im retarded, this will work right?

Sandisk 512MB Memory Stick Pro

 

[Wario64]

Im retarded, this will work right?

Sandisk 512MB Memory Stick Pro

Nope, it has to be DUO

Memory Stick DUO or
Memory Stick DUO PRO

 

[fugimax]

Been messing some more with the PSP webstuff..

Was able to analyze the packet and extract the HTTP GET information:

GET /wipeout/US_holding_page.jpg HTTP/1.1
Accept-Charset: iso-8859-1;q=0.01
Host: ingame.scea.com
User-Agent: SCEJ PSP BROWSER 0102pspNavigator
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 01:53:40 GMT
Accept: text/html, image/png, image/gif, image/jpeg, */*;q=0.1
Accept-Encoding: identity
Referer: http://ingame.scea.com/wipeout/index.html
Connection: Keep-Alive

Hacked a perl script together to output the result of that request from a socket..

and voila, here's the "Coming Soon" image..

 

[God's Hand]

Someone convince me to get a PSP...

I want to buy something that plays music and movies, and am willing to buy a 1GB memory stick. Now, how does the PSP work as a music player? Do I have to pull it out of my pocket everytime to change a song, or is there a remote? Does the screen shut off at some point? How long does the battery last playing MP3s? Is there a visualization?

 

[JPRaup]

Someone convince me to get a PSP...

I want to buy something that plays music and movies, and am willing to buy a 1GB memory stick. Now, how does the PSP work as a music player? Do I have to pull it out of my pocket everytime to change a song, or is there a remote?

comes with a remote

 

[Minotauro]

Wario, do you know if EB requires that the games you trade be complete? I saw a few cheap games at Gamestop today but a lot of them were disc only...

 

[Mrbob]

John Davison basically confirms 1up jumped the gun on its early criticism of Twisted Metal

http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5345401

In the PSP roundtable feature we did a week or so ago, we were all (well, Sam and I in particular) pretty down on Twisted Metal: Head-On based on the time that we'd (at that point) spent with it. Having played it all the way through now, I think it's safe to say that this isn't a game that demo'd particularly well. The flat, open arena that kicks the game off (and was what most of us had seen in our limited exposure to it) is pretty limp and TM3-like, and it's not until you really dig in and play through the whole thing that you get an appreciation of its TM: Black-ness. It's not without it's problems, but once you get back into the Twisted Metal "jousting" rhythm, it brings back some fond memories. The fact that it also has six-player action in either Ad-Hoc (PSP-speak for "local") or Infrastructure (PSP-speak for "on the Internet") mode pretty much assures that it'll be a big hit. So...my apologies to TM fans for being a bit harsh on it earlier. I love it when a game can completely flips the way you feel about it after you've sunk your teeth into it.

 

[Wario64]

Wario, do you know if EB requires that the games you trade be complete? I saw a few cheap games at Gamestop today but a lot of them were disc only...

No idea...it all depends to the employee I think. I know some people were able to trade without manuals, but I'm not sure if it works without covers

 

[fugimax]

No idea...it all depends to the employee I think. I know some people were able to trade without manuals, but I'm not sure if it works without covers

I traded one without manual/cover yesterday and it worked alright.

The clerk was actually saying to me:

"If any of these are on the exlusion list, you should pop across the street to blockbuster and buy some cheap games. Someone did that earlier and he got 2 free PSP games."

 

[newsguy]

I love it when a game can completely flips the way you feel about it after you've sunk your teeth into it.

I love it when a game journalist eats crow.

 

[DMczaf]

The EBGames deal includes 2005 sports games right?

 

[BuddyC]

BuddyC, do you have a screen protector for your PSP?

No. I've been meaning to get one, but didn't have the time to properly research them until about a week ago. I decided on the EXIM, but I'm waiting until they come into abundant supply before ordering one. As a result, I have several small hairline scratches on my screen - luckily they're only visible under really bright lights, but it still makes me a little sad. I've just used a microfibre cloth, storing it in a styrofoam bag when not in use.

Tip: DO NOT APPLY ANY SORT OF PRESSURE WHEN CLEANING THE PSP SCREEN.

 

[Wario64]

The EBGames deal includes 2005 sports games right?

I think so, I don't see them on the exclusion list

This even includes the ESPN $20 games

 

[Mrbob]

Wipeout Pure video review IGN:

http://media.psp.ign.com/media/682/682962/vids_1.html

 

[Alex]

I hope they've learned a lesson; you don't knock Incog developed Twisted Metal. I'm too excited for it, hehe, most I've been for a game in a long time. TM:B was fucking ace.

 

[Yossarian]

Alright peoples, I got a dilemma: I am trying to decide between THUG, NFL Street and MGAc!d - i can only afford two. Right now, I am pretty sure I will get Ac!d, but I know almost nothing about it. I love the MGS games, but I am a little unsure about how the whole thing will come together. Are there any gameplay videos or reviews of Ac!d floating around at all?

As far as the other two games go, I am quite ambivilant. I haven't played a Tony Hawk game since 2, and I am unsure how the new game play mechanics will sit with me. And I just haven't heard anything about NFL Street yet, and I am scared of buying a launch game I know nothing about. Any advice?

 

[Mejilan]

Any comprehensive reviews of Untold Legends yet?

 

[BuddyC]

As far as the other two games go, I am quite ambivilant. I haven't played a Tony Hawk game since 2, and I am unsure how the new game play mechanics will sit with me. And I just haven't heard anything about NFL Street yet, and I am scared of buying a launch game I know nothing about. Any advice?

Avoid paying $50 for THUG 2 if you haven't played the series since 2. Rent it, or maybe wait for a price drop, but if you were a big fan of 2, well, just don't pay $50 for this one unless you're sure. Ignoring the Story mode, which hurts my very soul, and technical issues (loading, sound glitches) aside, the classic mode isn't what you remember. I hate to keep copy and pasting this post, but it sums everything up very well.

For those of you planning to buy THUG 2 for Classic mode who haven't yet played it in any incarnation, you should know it's not the exact same mode as the older titles, that is, unless 4 really mucked things up.

First off, the stat points. My memory gets fuzzy after Tony Hawk 2 (and I stopped playing them after 3) but I don't like having to find Stat Points to increase my skater's stats. They're a pain in the ass to get, six levels into Classic mode and I've only found five, maybe spotted two or three more. That makes levelling up your skater much harder, which in turn, makes those big ass combos required for the later levels more of a pain.

I don't care much for focus mode either, I'm tired of every game incorporating bullet time. My main beef is that you practically have to use focus mode to rack up the combos, due to the stat issue.

Lastly, the level progression just sucks. In Tony Hawk of old, levels would be unlocked as you accomplished more and more goals. It didn't matter which level you accomplished these in, just as long as you had met X amount overall. Not so for THUG 2 - unlocking the next tier of level(s) requires you to accomplish six goals in one specfic map. I'd rather go back to the first map and finish off those objectives instead of trying to nail a 400,000 point run with low stats, but no.

Maybe I'll pick it up again when cheat codes hit, but for the most part, I'm done with THUG2 Remix. All I wanted was a Classic mode similiar to that of Tony Hawk 2, but I guess that was just too much to ask

 

[Yossarian]

thanks; you've made my decision much easier.

 

[Mejilan]

THPS >>> THUG imho.

Still buying it.

 

[daegan]

Anyone know how to get these PSP cases over in the US? The import price would be hefty but the thing is really pretty:

http://www.playstation.jp/scej/goods/pspictogram/porter/index.html

 

[BuddyC]

thanks; you've made my decision much easier.

Story mode is better in that it uses an RPG-esque stat system, where the more you use moves the better you get at them. My problem, however, was that story mode essentialy plays out like an episode of Viva La Bam or Jackass. You're accomplishing goals that often have nothing to do with your skill as a skater, it sometimes feels more like a platformer than a Tony Hawk game. About the time I had to take control of the guy from American Chopper on a souped-up Segway (complete with wonkier controls) was when I drew the line. I watched my friend play the rest of the game, and while I can understand how some would find it enjoyable, it just doesn't appeal to me.

As for Metal Gear Acid, chespace has said some wonderfully nice things about it. Think strategy RPG meets card game meets the Metal Gear universe. Afraid I can't be much more help than that.

 

[krypt0nian]

Anyone know how to get these PSP cases over in the US? The import price would be hefty but the thing is really pretty:

http://www.playstation.jp/scej/goods/pspictogram/porter/index.html

No clue but you may be able to get a kind Gaffer in Japan to help you out.

 

[Dsal]

I'm really enjoying THUG2. For some reason, it seems like it's better suited to the small screen as I didn't think much of it on the PS2. The goals in each level are varied and many of them require you to really scout out the level well and figure out how to get places. The goofy plot and all that is fairly retarded, but I really like the gameplay.

 

[newsguy]

Well, I was enjoying THUG 2 but it's back in EB now. The audio glitches were annoying the hell out of me. If you don't play with headphones, it' no big deal. But with some good headphones you hear snaps and pops in the soundtrack like it's a vinyl record. Also, when coming out of sleep mode the soundtrack wasn't loading so I only had effects until I reset. it. Lastly, THPS 2 >>>> the THUG series. Due to an awsome EB manager I know who was undertanding of the situation, I replaced it with TM: Head on which is on badass mofo of a game.

 

[Defensor]

Anyone know how to get these PSP cases over in the US? The import price would be hefty but the thing is really pretty:

http://www.playstation.jp/scej/goods/pspictogram/porter/index.html

You really want to spend over $100+ for a Porter PSP case?

 

[soundwave05]

So uh when's this Memory Stick price slash coming? Didn't Stringer say he thought Memory Sticks were way overpriced?

Hopefully there's a price drop soon.

 

[Mr. Lemming]

Anyone else see this?

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/psp/cali-taxman-takes-on-psp-036685.php

Apparently in CA there may or may not be a tax (~$6) charged on the PSP due to the size of the LCD screen and covering any environmental damage its disposal may cause.

Edit: Apparently for now there will not be a tax since the PSP has not been "tested" yet.

 

[ManaByte]

When I was picking up Darkstalkers today at EB the guy there was trying to convince someone else to pre-order a system for the third or fourth shipment "because US games are 100% incompatible with the Japanese system"

 

[ManaByte]

Anyone else see this?

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/psp/cali-taxman-takes-on-psp-036685.php

Apparently in CA there may or may not be a tax (~$6) charged on the PSP due to the size of the LCD screen and covering any environmental damage its disposal may cause.

Edit: Apparently for now there will not be a tax since the PSP has not been "tested" yet.

Heh, that doesn't stop Fry's from charging tax on it. They have a sign hung up in their PSP section alerting people to the tax.

 

[eLGee]

When I was picking up Darkstalkers today at EB the guy there was trying to convince someone else to pre-order a system for the third or fourth shipment "because US games are 100% incompatible with the Japanese system"

That's funny, because it's 100% UNTRUE. However, if you wanna play against someone with a japanese game, when you yourself have a US equivalent of the same game, it won't work. So:

JAP game in JAP console = WORKS
US game in US console = WORKS
US game in JAP console = WORKS
JAP game in US console = WORKS
JAP AD HOC/Multiplayer game and US console against JAP AD HOC/Multiplayer game and JAP console = WORKS
US AD HOC/Multiplayer game and US console against US AD HOC/Multiplayer game and JAP console = WORKS

Any other configuration is incompatible. Questions?

 

[Tabris]

3 more questions:

Why does the value pack case suck?

What's the best case you can buy at a B&M store? (EB or Futureshop)

Is the Hori screen protector good?

 

[Justin]

Anyone have any impressions or hear how Metal Gear Acid is?

 

[bean breath]

Anyone have any impressions or hear how Metal Gear Acid is?

Here is an article on IGN about the 2-player battle mode.

 

[mrklaw]

That's funny, because it's 100% UNTRUE. However, if you wanna play against someone with a japanese game, when you yourself have a US equivalent of the same game, it won't work. So:

JAP game in JAP console = WORKS
US game in US console = WORKS
US game in JAP console = WORKS
JAP game in US console = WORKS
JAP AD HOC/Multiplayer game and US console against JAP AD HOC/Multiplayer game and JAP console = WORKS
US AD HOC/Multiplayer game and US console against US AD HOC/Multiplayer game and JAP console = WORKS

Any other configuration is incompatible. Questions?

Tried twisted metal infrastructure on a JPN console? How about Wipeout pure download page access on a JPN console?

 

[aoi tsuki]

Been messing some more with the PSP webstuff..

Was able to analyze the packet and extract the HTTP GET information:

GET /wipeout/US_holding_page.jpg HTTP/1.1
Accept-Charset: iso-8859-1;q=0.01
Host: ingame.scea.com
User-Agent: SCEJ PSP BROWSER 0102pspNavigator
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2005 01:53:40 GMT
Accept: text/html, image/png, image/gif, image/jpeg, */*;q=0.1
Accept-Encoding: identity
Referer: http://ingame.scea.com/wipeout/index.html
Connection: Keep-Alive

Hacked a perl script together to output the result of that request from a socket..

and voila, here's the "Coming Soon" image..

Thanks! Interesting tidbits here, most especially the user agent string.

 

[DSFan1970]

Tried twisted metal infrastructure on a JPN console? How about Wipeout pure download page access on a JPN console?

I can confirm both work. I have a Japanese Unit with those games...

 

[BuddyC]

I can confirm both work. I have a Japanese Unit with those games...

Yea, same here.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Someone convince me to get a PSP...

I want to buy something that plays music and movies, and am willing to buy a 1GB memory stick. Now, how does the PSP work as a music player? Do I have to pull it out of my pocket everytime to change a song, or is there a remote? Does the screen shut off at some point? How long does the battery last playing MP3s? Is there a visualization?

I've said it before in this thread, and I'll say it again. If you are just buying the PSP for movies and music, there are far better options out there. I have an Archos AV420 that I bought online for $430 that is a much more capable video/music player then the PSP. Now I know what you're thinking, it's a lot more money then a PSP, but at $250 for the system, and $140 (at least) for a 1GB memory stick you're not far off the price. But the Archos unit comes with a 20 GB hard drive, so for the difference in price, you get 20 times the storage. The Archos also comes with a dock to connect to your TV so you can record TV shows (even set it up to automatically record shows), video tapes, DVD's, etc. It'll also connect to your computer to put downloaded clips on to it. As a music player, it's very good, displaying album art and the works. It'll also allow you to put photos on it and use it as a photo viewer. It's an excellent media player and I recommend it highly.

If on the other hand, you want to play games too, then by all means, grab a PSP. I have mine pre-ordered and I'm trying to wait patiently until Thursday. I just wanted to point out that if you want a Video/Music player, there are better options then the PSP.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Any comprehensive reviews of Untold Legends yet?

I'd like to hear more too, though I think I'm locked in at this point. I hope even a generic dungeon crawler is as appealing on handheld as it seems it would be. I saw random dungeons and my wallet popped open.