Video Game Discussion

[Trekker 42]

I personally have a huge problem with downloadable content in one simple thing: If the games are stored on hardware and the hardware is destroyed, there goes your games. With disks, the games are relatively safe and if the hardware dies, you can replace it rather easily without rebuying games. In the download thing, would you have to rebuy games too?

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[neolego]

Look, the virtual Console and Xbox Live Marketplace both offer options in the case of this happening. If you buy anything they remember. I've deleted several of my Virtual Console Games and Marketplace TV Shows, only to go back to their page and download them again for Free.

I can see the fear that might cause, but given that a company will support and keep track of what purchases you make is security enough. If you download new games, your console blows. You pick up a new one, get online, and redownload all of your content. As long as a company can guarantee that, I would be more than comfortable with download games/content/etc. neo

[TBT!]

Look, the virtual Console and Xbox Live Marketplace both offer options in the case of this happening. If you buy anything they remember. I've deleted several of my Virtual Console Games and Marketplace TV Shows, only to go back to their page and download them again for Free.

I can see the fear that might cause, but given that a company will support and keep track of what purchases you make is security enough. If you download new games, your console blows. You pick up a new one, get online, and redownload all of your content. As long as a company can guarantee that, I would be more than comfortable with download games/content/etc. neo

There is a HUGE downside to this idea though.

Imagine day 1 of the release of say GTA4 where they could have a million users all trying to download 4gb's of data at once.... That's a HUGE amount of data and bandwidth even by todays standards.

There there's storage costs, every game is perhaps 4gb and there could be thousands of games and movies out there. not such a bad figure in itself but to have that as nearline storage where it's accessible by hundreds of thousands of people is not cheap.

I haven't even mentioned those who don't have an internet connection or wont connect their 'boxes'.

Or those like the members above ( and myself) who dont feel they really have something unless they have something tangable in their hands.

I feel contrary today so I'm really just throwing some mud at the perfect picture that's being painted...

T.

[handsomedevil]

2: true, the harddrive could crash, but it should be saved to your gamertag so once you got it fixed and got back online with your gamertag, if should have a saved record of what you've purchased before and you should be able to re-download it.

After you re-download it don't you have to be connected to XBL to play it on a different console though? I use a long ethernet cable to connect for better performance & don't leave it connected all the time.

[Trekker 42]

Look, the virtual Console and Xbox Live Marketplace both offer options in the case of this happening. If you buy anything they remember. I've deleted several of my Virtual Console Games and Marketplace TV Shows, only to go back to their page and download them again for Free.

I can see the fear that might cause, but given that a company will support and keep track of what purchases you make is security enough. If you download new games, your console blows. You pick up a new one, get online, and redownload all of your content. As long as a company can guarantee that, I would be more than comfortable with download games/content/etc. neo

There is a HUGE downside to this idea though.

Imagine day 1 of the release of say GTA4 where they could have a million users all trying to download 4gb's of data at once.... That's a HUGE amount of data and bandwidth even by todays standards.

There there's storage costs, every game is perhaps 4gb and there could be thousands of games and movies out there. not such a bad figure in itself but to have that as nearline storage where it's accessible by hundreds of thousands of people is not cheap.

I haven't even mentioned those who don't have an internet connection or wont connect their 'boxes'.

Or those like the members above ( and myself) who dont feel they really have something unless they have something tangable in their hands.

I feel contrary today so I'm really just throwing some mud at the perfect picture that's being painted...

T.

I'm right there with Timbo (For once. We usually agree on nothing). I don't even buy online because I'm so damned paranoid that I NEED to have the thing in my hand when I pay for it instead of paying and trusting someone to get it to me later. Unless they're family, I can't pay without complete certainty that I'll get the item. Family I'm a little more trustig with.

[Nestlé]

I don't know,

I think games like RockBand have a way of swaying you.

I've spent $50 just downloading songs for it.

Though I'm still skeptical microtransactions get thumbs up from me.

[neolego]

We all have our opinions........but Microtransactions are the way of the future boys. Get used to it!! neo

[TBT!]

I don't know,

I think games like RockBand have a way of swaying you.

I've spent $50 just downloading songs for it.

Though I'm still skeptical microtransactions get thumbs up from me.

See a few MB here and there I can see, a song, a map, some extra content... but not a repacement for retail sales of new product....

It may be the future Neo... but it's not the future yet...

T.

[neolego]

Ah....speaking of Microtransactions! Not sure if you guys heard about this or not:

-Direct Quote from Activision-

“Despite what the internet might tell you (including some “official” sources), the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare variety map pack has NOT been delayed until the 10th. As of right now we’re pushing certification for an on-time release for April 3rd or 4th. As of right now though, I’m being told that it’s a good chance it will be released worldwide (except for Japan) tomorrow night / early-Friday morning.”

Be looking online guys. New maps are just around the corner! neo

[neolego]

And with that, I just downloaded the New CoD4 Map Pack. See you posers online tonight! Meet me at the Creekbed! neo

[TBT!]

And with that, I just downloaded the New CoD4 Map Pack. See you posers online tonight! Meet me at the Creekbed! neo

I play hardcore mode mostly, it's just more fun to me (You have to actually think a little rather than run pray and spray.) and the new maps aren't setup for it, so for now I'm not going to bother with them.

T.

[Punisher]

Hey fellow brawlers, my code is 5198-2080-7026

[Trekker 42]

Punisher-It's on

Brawlers, I'm on Spring Break, so I'll probably be playing a lot more. hopefully someone will be online.

[Deadpool]

OFF TOPIC: Could someone explain to me the legality of emulators? If I get a bunch of games, am I going to get busted?

[TBT!]

OFF TOPIC: Could someone explain to me the legality of emulators? If I get a bunch of games, am I going to get busted?

In short it's pretty much that the emulators are legal BUT any ROMS that you don't own the original software for are illegal.

It's a bit more complicated than that but seeing we don't condone PUBLIC discussions about illegal software I'll keep this post short.

T.

[neolego]

Whoa, the threads been basically dead since Friday. So, I thought I'd kick things back up for good measure. Nothing like a bit of controversy to get the ball rolling......right?

So....Grand Theft Auto IV.......what are everyone's thoughts on the game? I'm sure that I am in the minority, thus the "bit of controversy" statement, but I think that GTA has just become a vehicle to see how much trash we can make acceptable in society. Stip clubs, prostitutes, drugs, grand theft auto, theft, senseless killing, etc. It's just really a hard sell for me. That is not why video games were invented, to me it actually tarnishes the ideals of what gaming is about. GTA to me is the Equivalent of what Titantic was to the Theater. Titanic was one of the best movies to ever grace the big screen. Wonderful acting, amazing effects, and a realism that made you feel like you were there that night.........and then there were Kate's boobs. For no good reason, hollywood had to add several minutes of pointless nudity to a PG-13 movie. It took a elegant design and presentation that has rarely been matched and tainted it by adding B-level nudity for simply no reason.

Again, I'm sure that I'm in the minority, but I thought it may be a good topic to discuss with the release just right around the corner! So, sound off...neo

[Dan]

I see where you are coming from, but thats not why I play GTA. I play it for the sheer vastness and freedom of it. On what other game can you break into an airport, steal a plane, then land it on the strip and go gambling, before going back to your house and driving your modded car through the desert? Yes alot of it is sex, drugs and violence, but not all of it, and its on that basis that I will eb buying GTA IV.

[TM2 Dinobot]

So, changing the subject, I finally after all this time played Halo 3. I got maybe 7 levels into it before I had to quit.

Wow. Seriously, wow. And not in a good way. int he worst possible way. Wow. This game totally blows. I mean, I realize that I was building this thing up in my head to more than it was, so i was expecting a let down. I just wasn't expecting it to blow chunks. I can see several problems with it, which I will list out here because I'm bored.

1) It's a next gen game. First of all, I hate those things. They look awful, especially if you have an HD TV. Oh sure, people always talk about the clarity. Personally, I'd rather not see the pores of the guy I'm about to shoot, because it looks so bad. It is so unrealistic. I still play Halo because it looks great on my 12 B&W. I just have always had peoples with this HD crap, and this proves it. HD sucks.

2) The story. Halo was good because it dumped you in but made you feel like it had history behind it. Halo 2 was good because they had to explain things to the characters as they went along, which, while there was history there, it still felt deeper than just the first game. This one... Man, I didn't have a friggin clue what was going on. No introductions for first time players, no re-establishment of the story line. No background that you feel gets expanded if you read the books. Plus after 1 and 2, it just felt like "here we go again". First 3 levels, fight the Covenant. Fine a Forerunner artifiact. Fight the Flood. yada yada yada. There was nothing new.

3) All the new equipment. I always have problems when they add a ton of stuff in the sequels because it makes me think "why wasn't it there in the first place?" With halo 2, it was acceptable. But if there's no difference between 2 and 3, why is there new stuff in there? Seriously, the Mongoose, Chopper, all the Brute weapons, they all just ticked me off royally. The redesigning of weapons, the shotgun being a prime example, or the energy sword. Why why WHY did they change them up again? They worked fine. Leave them alone. The bubble shield and all that shit was useless as a palm tree in the artic. You can only hold 2 grenades?! But perhaps the most annoying thing ever, it doesn't tell you what you're switching to. it just shows you a friggin picture! That was confusing as shit.

4) Gameplay. Now granted, I don't have a 360, so i am not used to the controls. But bumpers to reload? That's X!!!! Why would you reload with a bumper when it's ALWAYS been X? I don't understand why there aren't white and black buttons, but that's Microsoft's fault, not Bungie's

Granted, I didn't finish the game. I was forced to play with the most dillweed partnet ever, who wouldn't fight, wouldn't shut his trap the entire time, wouldn't get off my butt, and skipped EVERY. SINGLE CUTSCENE. I wanted to crack him across the head with the controller. So maybe my opinion will change once I own the system, buy the game, de-HD it and can watch it at my leisure. But I doubt it.

Halo 1 was one of the best games ever made. Halo 2 was fun. Halo 3 I tollerate it's existance because I have to.

[neolego]

I see where you are coming from, but thats not why I play GTA. I play it for the sheer vastness and freedom of it. On what other game can you break into an airport, steal a plane, then land it on the strip and go gambling, before going back to your house and driving your modded car through the desert? Yes alot of it is sex, drugs and violence, but not all of it, and its on that basis that I will eb buying GTA IV.

Yeah, but that's kinda my point! Everything mentioned is AMAZING.......and the sex and drugs and violence is just not needed. The game would be completely amazing without that!

And Dinobot......wow, I don't have time to reply to you today............we'll get into that tomorrow! neo

[Dan]

1) It's a next gen game. First of all, I hate those things. They look awful, especially if you have an HD TV. Oh sure, people always talk about the clarity. Personally, I'd rather not see the pores of the guy I'm about to shoot, because it looks so bad. It is so unrealistic. I still play Halo because it looks great on my 12 B&W. I just have always had peoples with this HD crap, and this proves it. HD sucks.

Okay you want them to downgrade graphics? You don't like HD? Don't buy one. I'm gonna totally ignore this one.

2) The story. Halo was good because it dumped you in but made you feel like it had history behind it. Halo 2 was good because they had to explain things to the characters as they went along, which, while there was history there, it still felt deeper than just the first game. This one... Man, I didn't have a friggin clue what was going on. No introductions for first time players, no re-establishment of the story line. No background that you feel gets expanded if you read the books. Plus after 1 and 2, it just felt like "here we go again". First 3 levels, fight the Covenant. Fine a Forerunner artifiact. Fight the Flood. yada yada yada. There was nothing new.

It's a war! What more do you want? Generally in wars you fight the enemy! What did you expect? A race? Also go to page 2 of the manual. Go on. I'll wait...

Done it? Yup that's 2 pages of explanation of the backstory. I assume you can read? What's the problem?

3) All the new equipment. I always have problems when they add a ton of stuff in the sequels because it makes me think "why wasn't it there in the first place?" With halo 2, it was acceptable. But if there's no difference between 2 and 3, why is there new stuff in there? Seriously, the Mongoose, Chopper, all the Brute weapons, they all just ticked me off royally. The redesigning of weapons, the shotgun being a prime example, or the energy sword. Why why WHY did they change them up again? They worked fine. Leave them alone. The bubble shield and all that shit was useless as a palm tree in the artic. You can only hold 2 grenades?! But perhaps the most annoying thing ever, it doesn't tell you what you're switching to. it just shows you a friggin picture! That was confusing as shit.

Ok I can agree on the fact that equipment is confusing in the beginning, but you can easily go to Forge mode, put down the equipment, then pick it up and look at the symbol and learn them. Bubbleshields can be fantastic when used properly. If you can't use it, that's your fault, not the game's. And what are you on about about changes to sword and shotgun? Okay the shotgun has less shots to it, but that makes it more fair in online games as it became too powerful? The only difference that I can think of with the sword is the slight delay when changing weapons. Again that was to make it more fair during online play, but I bet you didn't even give that a chance.

And you'd rather they just didn't add more vehicles? If you bothered with any backstory you'd know that during Halo 2 the Brutes were only a small part of the Covenant, and so deemed not worthy of their own vehicles. By Halo 3 they are the majority of the Covenant army and so get their own design of weaponary and vehicles ie, Brute Spiker, Chopper and Prowler. Why is it the Mongoose 'ticked you off royally'?

4) Gameplay. Now granted, I don't have a 360, so i am not used to the controls. But bumpers to reload? That's X!!!! Why would you reload with a bumper when it's ALWAYS been X? I don't understand why there aren't white and black buttons, but that's Microsoft's fault, not Bungie's

RB is much easier to hit from RT than X.

Granted, I didn't finish the game. I was forced to play with the most dillweed partnet ever, who wouldn't fight, wouldn't shut his trap the entire time, wouldn't get off my butt, and skipped EVERY. SINGLE CUTSCENE. I wanted to crack him across the head with the controller. So maybe my opinion will change once I own the system, buy the game, de-HD it and can watch it at my leisure. But I doubt it.

Yet you bitch about not explaining the backstory. That's your dumbass friends fault, not the game's.

At the end of the day, you didn't give this game a proper chance. After playing it for more than a handful of levels you get used to weapon changes and once you know them, you can much quicker swap guns by picture than reading what it is, as on other FPS's.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Dan

[TBT!]

Neo Neo Neo.... Ok what I'm going to say is for the purpose of debate and you should know by now it's said without any malice and gives any respect that's due.

In my opinion you have a very unique view of the world, and to be honest it's not entirely a realistic one.

The covered in cotton wool approach to life doesn't work. It just means that when you do face reality it's all the harder to deal with.

Lets take your example Titanic... it's a pair of breasts... OHMYGOODNESS... Kate W. has breasts and like it or not so does every other woman on the planet, it's really not a big deal. It's not like her and Leo were going at it full tilt onscreen and involving a donkey. Breasts are normal Donkeys are not!

Sorry if that made you uncomfortable but it's not exactly the end of civilization.

What's more interesting to me is that a lot of people die in that movie and you're worried about Kate's boobs!

As posted above, you are making a topic of this and sensationalizing it more than anyone else is, everyone else recognizes this as being close to the real world, ok so yes there is some wiggle room for artistic reasons but for the most part that's the way the world is. Things like gang war, murder, drugs and strip clubs exist. Just pretending they don't wont make them go away.

GTAIV is going to be labeled as for sale to adults only, sure some kids will play it ( that's a parental issue and a whole other debate) but for the most part it's like any medium it's been filtered so that only those who are suitable should be able to see it.

Ok here's my question to you...

Do you think that everyone else should be censored because do not wish to see that type of content?

T.

p.s. someone pick Dinobot off the floor I knew I shouldn't have said boobs more than twice in one post

[Vash]

Whoa, the threads been basically dead since Friday. So, I thought I'd kick things back up for good measure. Nothing like a bit of controversy to get the ball rolling......right?

So....Grand Theft Auto IV.......what are everyone's thoughts on the game? I'm sure that I am in the minority, thus the "bit of controversy" statement, but I think that GTA has just become a vehicle to see how much trash we can make acceptable in society. Stip clubs, prostitutes, drugs, grand theft auto, theft, senseless killing, etc. It's just really a hard sell for me. That is not why video games were invented, to me it actually tarnishes the ideals of what gaming is about. GTA to me is the Equivalent of what Titantic was to the Theater. Titanic was one of the best movies to ever grace the big screen. Wonderful acting, amazing effects, and a realism that made you feel like you were there that night.........and then there were Kate's boobs. For no good reason, hollywood had to add several minutes of pointless nudity to a PG-13 movie. It took a elegant design and presentation that has rarely been matched and tainted it by adding B-level nudity for simply no reason.

Again, I'm sure that I'm in the minority, but I thought it may be a good topic to discuss with the release just right around the corner! So, sound off...neo

why is nudity tainting a movie? .. or video game for that matter. GTA has always been an adults game its never been marketed towards kids and never will be. GTA has always been a game for those with a twisted sense of humor those that look at the world (of GTA) and laugh at the perverse look at our own world. Yes GTA has sex, drugs, gun battles, cop killing, and random acts of violence for no other reason than to cause destruction and chaos. But last time I checked the real world as all of that stuff too. Does GTA glorify the dark side of life.. yes.. but at the same time it reminds us that there is more to life than fluffy bunnies and cotton candy. For some people its a release at the end of a tense work day.. for others its to see how many cars they can steal and collect, still some use the game as a way to escape the reality they are unhappy with. Dunno.. Is the violence, sex, and drugs needed for GTA?? Likely not.. although I have to believe the game wouldnt sell as well as it does if it candy coated the world. meh?

[TM2 Dinobot]

Dan> Boo-frickin-hoo. It's called a review, or at the very least an opinion. Regardless if I'm, how you oh so delicately put it, 'bitching about a hand full of levels and not giving it a chance', lets see. I played about half way through it, and working from purely that alone, regardless of story or partners or cutscenes or graphics or anything else, it sucked hardcore when stacked up against 1 and 2. There were legitimate game play issues that I had. I found the game tedious, droll with an overlaying sense of deja vu. It seemed that for working on it as long and hard as they did, Bungie essentially said "Here's some great Halo online multiplayer! Oh, and here's some campaign game play to make the cool new stuff make sense. Oh, BTW, here' the rest of the story, not that anyone cares," For having waited years to find out what happens, honestly, I'm not sure I even care at this point. The game should have been designed on the XB, then suped up the graphics for the 360. That might have fixed the design flaws and made the transition between 2 and 3 better. But as it is, Halo 3 is now one of those game I can see owning and never finishing. It was more than disappointment from mental build up. The game honestly sucked. And this from the man who owns everything Halo 1 and 2 (media related anyways. Joyride is just too expensive)

On the GTA thing> I can't remember if I said this on here or not, but I have 3 interesting stories. I used to work at the video game department at TRU. One time I had these two kids come in, they couldn't have been more than 13. They wanted to buy some M game, like GTA or 50 Cent or something obscene like that. I told them they had to have their gardian buy it. So they brought their mom over. She barely spoke english, but I told her that if she was going to let her kids play it, that it was for 17+ because of the content. When she finally understood, she told her kids no, and the started cussing her out in the middle of the store. True story. In english and spanish, yelling and cussing out their mother because she wouldn't buy two 13yos an M rated game!

Another time I had a kid that was maybe 8 or 10 buy GTA3. I told him he had to have a guardian, so his dad walked up and bought it. I gave him the standard warning that's required about not intended for minors. he said okay, so I checked him out and handed it back to him. He looked me in the eye and handed his son the game. It was interesting because that';s how easy it is, all you need is someone over 18 to pay for it. That's it, the kid can do the rest. But I was curious as to why he was glaring at me, as it it were my problem what his kid did.

The third story was actually one of my funnier ones. 50 Cent Bulletproof had just come out, and this father was buying it for his, once again 8yo son. I gave him the standard spiel, "you are aware it is rated M for blood, gore, extreme violence, drug and alcohol abuse, extreme language and sexual themes" He said it was fine. then I added Nudity to the list, which wasn't true, but I wanted to see what happened. he flipped out and told his son there was no way he was buying it for him. I told him "don't worry. it's male nudity" and he said "Oh, that's fine then"

WTF?! Like blood, gore, extreme violence, drug and alcohol abuse, extreme language and sexual themes are fine, but one nipple slip is going to ruin your kid for life?

So, yeah. It's the parents.

As for the actual game content? There's instances where it both adds and takes away. Shindler's List springs to mind. That movie wouldn't have been half as powerful if there wasn't nudity. But it was nudity. Not sexuality. And I think that's what most games are selling when they add that is is they're selling sex, which doesn't add anything to the game.

Blah, my head is not in a good place today.

[neolego]

Like I said when I started, and for the record, I'm quite comfortable in the Minority on this one! Maybe it partly because of my Faith or partly because now I'm a father, but you start to notice things in life. I used Titanic as a simple example, but I understand your point to Timbo. It was just a simple, non-sexual shot, so maybe it wasn't a fair comparission. What I was trying to explain though, is there was no point to it. If they would have left the boobs out of the movie no one would have cared. It isn't like you would have walked out and said, "Dang, the movie was OK but it really needed some boobs!" That's the same way I feel about games. I have never finished a game and said to someone, "Man, it's a good game, but where are the Drugs and the Boobs!?!"

The whole reason I brought the point up is for the simple fact that GTA is probably one of the best games (from a design standpoint) ever made. Sure, you say it wouldn't sell as many copies if they "candy coated it". However, I disagree completely. Take out the language, the sex, the hookers, the drugs, and tone down the violence. This game would then get a Teen rating and you would see sales sore...guaranteed! However, that will never happen, and I will never buy the game and I'm perfectly happy with that. I just think that we've allowed games like this to dominate a market because we in secret enjoy the darkness of this world. I can understand a War game (CoD4 for instance) where you are fighting a war. But I don't need a game to help me fantize about throwing someone out of a car, beating them sensless and stealing that car. Or parking on a back road and paying a hooker for a night of fun. It is just completely beyond my comprehension how a normal, decent human can take part in events like that and think they are just having a good time. I promise you if you walked in on your child and some of the neighborhood kids pretended to be hookers or pretending to beat each other to death you would have a problem with it. Although, you will pay money to watch it in your living room. Again, to each is own, but I don't understand. neo

[TM2 Dinobot]

Actually, Neo, I'm with you on this one. I think they need to cut stuff out. Just making it more "adult" doesn't make it better. I'll give you a prime example, one of my favorite games. Dead or Alive. Is it a good fighting game? Meh, it can be. Is it nice to look at? Oh HECK yes! Because they're not selling a fighting game. They're selling sex, plain and simple. But you can't just sell sex, it's uncouth. You need to wrap it in something. So they wrap it in a fighting game and stick an M rating on it. otherwise it's be any of the other plethora of fighting games out there that doesn't specialize in sex.

Now, if it's an adult game, go for it. Cram as much crap in as you want. It's for adults, let them make their own desicion if they want that trash in their life or not. Because we're adults, and we can choose.

But I will give you a prime example of how to make a good game without anything wrong with it at all; Lego Star Wars. Best. Game. Ever. And yet they managed to do it without anything but comedy violence (unless you could Slave Leia table dancing)

So I'm with you man. But the point is adults can choose. I simple choose not to play with stuff like GTA or 50 Cent. Garbage in, garbage out.