Entertainment/Gaming Consoles - Page 2

cornelius · 04-07-2002, 11:21 PM

You know, speaking of the Sega Genesis, I really need to get a Sega Nomad. Genesis games on a portable system, that's just plain cool.

Also, the new Greatest Hits for the PS2 has come into effect now, so I can get all the games I've wanted for only 20 bucks now. Oh yeah, MGS2, Dark Cloud, Twisted Metal Black, all three for only sixty bucks. That ought to help take my mind off of things for a while now.

I never really noticed any problems with the gravity in THPS3 for the GC, just that it's basically a revamped THPS2...125,000 from grinding all over the first level...

I really wish I knew what the first game I ever played was called. It was on a really really really old apple (1985, I believe). This guy was stranded on some planet and had to go around and kill aliens with his ray gun and collect apples for health. It was kind of like Legend of Zelda, except way before Legend of Zelda. That was the game that got me hooked onto VGs for life, and I really wish I knew what it was called, because I want to download it and an emulator. Nostalgia, baby, nostaligia.

SteveDallas · 04-08-2002, 10:11 AM

I have an original Playstation, a SNES, an Atari 2600 (bought with a load of cartridges as a birthday present for my wife), an original Gameboy (barely works--the battery connection is loose), and a brand-new Game Boy Advance.

I don't really bother with PC games... partly I can't be bothered to keep my computer up to get good performance out of them (I currently have a 4 yo 233MHz MMX system at home). It's completely irrational.

As for the consoles, I would take the Playstation as the primo console in terms of number & variety of games, and I still drag it out occasionally. But the one I spend the most time with is the Gameboy... I can carry it anywhere in the house and don't have to negotiate for use of the TV or computer. (Being old-fashioned, we only have one of each. Well, one WORKING one of each.) The other thing is, Gameboy games tend to be simpler, and that suits me. Those of you of A Certain Age may remember Defender, which was one of the popular arcade games when I was in high school back in the early 80s. I could never play it--WAY too complicated. It had 4 or 5 different kinds of ammunition, so you had to remember which button did what, etc. etc. Frogger and Q-Bert are more my speed. So, while I've whiled away the occasional hour or two playing Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy Tactics on the Playstation, the bulk of my gaming time is puzzle or classic arcade titles on the Gameboy.

04-08-2002, 10:40 AM

Check on eBay for a Nomad. I've been thinking about getting one for a while now but I'm more interested in just having the Genesis hooked up to my TV at home. I'll need to buy another A/V switch (currently have 4 consoles hooked up to that TV on one A/V switch, wahoo) and then use it for GameCube, Super Nintendo and Genesis, but that's alright. I can do that.

Man, I spent a lot of time this weekend on Tony Hawk 3 and Grand Theft Auto and DAMN! GTA3 is good. Tony Hawk 3 is good. Tony Hawk 3 still seems harder than the first one, but I have all of the important stats (air, hangtime, ollie, rail balance, spin, etc) all maxed out now, so I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it. I was watching some of the movies they have and some of the moves they do are just fucking nuts. Manuals in between grinds, that sort of shit. 600,000 point moves and stuff. I need to get that good.

I'm thrilled when I pull off a 20,000 point combo. Damn.

vsp · 04-08-2002, 02:26 PM

A bunch of responses:

My console collection (a few of each in most cases):
* Atari 2600/5200/7800/XEGS/Jaguar
* Mattel Intellivision (original gold and condensed white), Aquarius
* ColecoVision
* Odyssey^2
* Bally Astrocade
* Three Vectrexes
* Sega Master System, Genesis, CDX, Saturn, Dreamcast, Game Gear
* Nintendo NES, SNES, Virtual Boy, (wife's) Game Boy / GB Color
* TurboGrafx/16, TurboDuo, import adapter, two TurboExpresses
* Sony PSX (two, one modded), PS2
* Goldstar 3DO
* Microvision
* multiple NeoGeo Pocket Colors

Yes, I have zero life. As for my own gaming preferences:

PORTABLES: The NGPC has grown on me quite a bit. Cardfighter's Clash has burned away much of my free time, it actually makes fighting games playable in a two-button format, and its capabilities (IMHO) blew away the GB Color. Pity that it didn't have Nintendo's marketing muscle or Pokemon.

The Game Boy family has never really grown on me that much -- there are games I'll play on them, certainly, but nothing that's made me run out and buy one for myself. Fire Pro Wrestling for the GBA has me tempted, but I'll wait until I find one for cheap.

The Game Gear is (and was) a hunk of junk. Ditto for the Microvision.

For my money, the best portable of all time is clearly the TurboExpress -- color screen, easy Japanese game compatibility, a TV Tuner attachment, and the ability to play the FULL system's games instead of scaled-down ports (think of what the GB would be like if it could play real NES/SNES carts). The Nomad is similar, but played Genesis games (most of which I disdain) and ate up batteries extremely quickly.

OLD-SCHOOL CONSOLES: The Atari 2600 had the game library, pure and simple. Once 2600 adapters existed for the Intellivision and ColecoVision, there was no longer any reason to own a real 2600. Intellivision was the king of sports and strategy games, and gets my nod as the king of its era; ColecoVision had some funky arcade ports and finishes a close second.

The Bally Astrocade had The Incredible Wizard (a FANTASTIC port of Wizard of Wor) and little else to recommend it, apart from the coolest controllers of all time. (Trigger-grip with a rotating knob on top that doubled as a joystick -- a thing of beauty.) The Odyssey^2 had K.C. Munchkin (the best home Pac-Man until the authentic 5200 version came out, and even that was flawed by the horrid 5200 joysticks) and not much else. A 5200 with real controllers would have ruled the fricking world; as it was, it was a footnote. (Still has the only home port of Space Dungeon, though.)

Anyone who doesn't have a Vectrex is missing the boat -- it was such a unique gaming experience that everyone should play it at least once. (Picture a vertical mini-TV with vector graphics, playing an Asteroids clone, Cinematronics ports and a host of fun-but-funky ports.) I have one for sale, BTW. Sadly, the 3D goggles are like hen's teeth to find.

The other old-timer consoles (the original Odyssey, Fairchild Channel F, APF Imagination Machine, RCA Studio II, Emerson Arcadia, etc.) weren't much beyond glorified Pong machines.

I'll split this up for readability purposes...

vsp · 04-08-2002, 02:59 PM

CARTRIDGE CONSOLES: What can I say about the NES? Obviously, it was the 900-pound gorilla of its era -- lots of great games, lots of real stinkers. Some authentic ports of old-school classics, some "modernizations" that were wincingly bad (I'm looking at YOU, NES Gyruss). Anyone who can't find five games worth playing on the NES isn't trying, though they may have to wade through some crap to find them. The Sega Master System tried to compete and failed, though it did spawn one of the first great console RPGs (Phantasy Star).

I've never been sold on either the Genesis or the SNES. Too many platformers, too many repetitive games, too much shovelware. There were gems for both systems, of course (FF2-3, Ogre Battle, Mario Kart, perhaps Tetris Attack for the SNES, Herzog Zwie, the Thunder Force series, and the Sonics for the Genny), but I've played both systems combined less than I have, say, my Jaguar or my 3DO. There were fun games to be found, but the Japanese titles (most of which never found their way here) were often far more interesting than what I see today clogging flea-market bargain bins.

The TurboGrafx (and its Japanese version, the PC-Engine) was the most underrated system ever, IMHO. Fabulous power, great games, easy compatibility with Japanese titles, ports that were often better than the SNES/Genesis versions, some of the best shoot-em-ups ever (Blazing Lazers comes to mind), and a CD-ROM attachment to come. PLUS you could play your games on the road with the Express. Other than the price tag, what wasn't to like?

And the Jaguar... well, let's just say that there are exactly four (4) games worth having for the Jag. Tempest 2000, Rayman, Defender 2000, and Aliens vs. Predator. AvP looks horribly dated today, as it has the framerate of a flip-book. However, the first three will RULE YOUR WORLD -- some of the best games ever created. (The Jaguar CD is best left as a curiosity.)

I'll cover the N64 in the next section, despite its lack of CD-ROM capabilities...

THE CD-ROM ERA: ...because its specs once included a CD-ROM unit, to be designed by Sony. When that fell through, Sony designed their own CD-ROM console, and the rest was history...

But the Sega CD and 3DO did come first. The former had zero going for it other than Working Designs RPGs, particularly the Lunar series (now available on PSX). The latter had a handful of titles that were wonderful in their day (the original Need For Speed, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Samurai Shodown, PO'ed, Out Of This World, Shanghai, Battlesport, Gex, Alone in the Dark).

The TurboCD (also sold as a standalone TurboDuo console) remains one of my favorites, even if some of its games are dated today. Great games, very easy Japan compatibility, and the best Castlevania game EVER (Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood).

And then came Sony. It took me a while to warm up to the PSX, but once a bunch of worthy imports started trickling in (and even more so when I modded my system to play imports that WEREN'T brought to the States), I wore it out to the point where I had to replace the CD-ROM drive. The game library is huge and varied, and there's really no reason not to own one. Whatever your tastes, games of that type exist therein.

The N64, on the other hand, is wonderful as long as you're between the ages of eight and sixteen. I was not. To this day, it and the Atari Lynx are the only major mass-marketed game systems I haven't bought between the 2600 and the PS2, because there's simply nothing I want to play on it that badly. (The Lynx is more of an oversight on my part, and that I can't find the carts for it cheaply.)

The Saturn was badly underrated. It had a lot of quirky games nothing like what the other systems were offering (NiGHTS, the Panzer Dragoon series, Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes), it had Sega's flagship titles (VF2, Virtua Cop, Fighters Megamix, Daytona, Sega Rally, Virtual On), it had easy Japanese compatibility, and it had major multitaps (six-player Fire Pro Wrestling S! Ten-player Bomberman!). Plus LOTS of awesome imports like Fire Pro S, Soukyugurentai, Cotton 2, Chatting Parodius and Bubble Symphony...

The Saturn failed to kill the PSX, so Bernie Stolar pulled the plug on it in the US in favor of the Dreamcast. Again, an underrated console, for many of the same reasons -- Fire Pro D on it remains my favorite wrestling game for realism AND fun, Soul Calibur and the NFL2K series are jaw-dropping, VF3 is there, Crazy Taxi is flat-out fun... but the game library was lacking for a while and by the time it started catching up, the PS2 had arrived and the DC was dead in the water.

I picked up the PS2 this Christmas -- again, I was waiting for second-generation titles that interested me. Grand Theft Auto 3 is certainly that; I have no memory of anything that happened in the month of January, apart from missions and carjackings and blowing up ice-cream trucks with rocket launchers for the sheer malicious glee of it. This is my favorite game of the entire CD-ROM era, one of the best of all time -- it's deep and playable on so many levels, whether you're playing it with a purpose or just screwing around. My wife's been having fun with Fatal Frame (think Resident Evil with cameras), Virtua Fighter 4 is tremendous and a major upgrade to the series, Devil May Cry is flashy... the library has plenty of weak spots, but the good games (like GTA3) far outweigh the negatives.

The XBox bores me so far, as does the Gamecube. Not necessarily bad consoles, but there's nothing yet for either that excites me. Maybe next year.

So, what did I miss?

04-08-2002, 03:44 PM

Man. I'm on the mission for Tony where you blow up the laundromat trucks (I've only been playing for a day, remember) and it is damn hard. I blow up a truck and automatically get 2 stars on the cop radar. From there I maybe get 1 more before I'm busted.

Any secrets to this?

matt · 04-08-2002, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vsp
Fire Pro D on it remains my favorite wrestling game for realism AND fun

Oh man, Fire Pro D is the best video game ever. Metal Gear, Schmetal Schmear.

cornelius · 04-08-2002, 06:33 PM

I'm gonna take a guess that you mean GTA3, and not Tony? I don't remember blowing up trucks in Tony...

Anyways, if you just take your time blowing them up, you should be ok. Plus, the trucks go all over the city, just follow one until it's not near anything else, and then blow it up. If you get stars from it, you'll be in the middle of nowhere, and should be able to stay away from the cops until your wanted level goes down. Then just go do it again.

04-08-2002, 11:46 PM

Oh, hehe. Yeah, GTA3, but that's a mission for the mob guy Tony. That's what I meant

Tony Hawk I'm doing pretty well on, working on manuals between tricks and shit. Pulled off like an 80,000 point combo earlier. Now that was cool.

Sadly, because I spent most of the night cleaning up the living room, I have not yet had the chance to work on some PS2 gaming. Like I said, I've been playing Tony though. Jenni wanted to play with me, and when a girl wants to play a video game, I let her - this is a rare occasion, my friends. Must encourage good behavior.

Man, I hope when they put out the PS2 hard drive, they take advantage of the FireWire port on the front of the PS2. That would totally rule, especially if you could save game data to it and shit. Lalala. I do like PS2. I'm just not as impressed, graphically, with the games as I am with Xbox. Plus I think that the Xbox hardware will take it farther than PS2. Wait for the games that come out this winter... they'll be killer I bet.

Must get GameCube... Rogue Leader... Super Monkey Ball... Soul Calibur 2...

cornelius · 04-09-2002, 04:58 AM

This guy I work with went to Activision for a job interview and he was telling me about some of the guys there. Apparently, one of the guys at Activision can consistently get 50,000,000 point combos (yes that's the right number of zeros) without even trying.

Now that's just sick.

04-09-2002, 06:35 AM

He might have had the cheat codes in. I've seen some unreal combos and they only go up to about a million points or so...

If I had perfect rail balance and perfect manual balance (like maybe what the Activision guy had), I could do 50,000,000 point combos too... but I don't

However, I did play some Hawk last night after writing that (okay, about 90 minutes worth, while I was waiting for laundry) and I got some nice combos pulled out. My favorite was on the Canada level, starting out with a couple grinds (all together to get my special meter up), manual real quick over to the ramp on the left, grind down that, manual out of it and over to one of the pipes going down the parking lot, grind that, quick manual to the ramp, then pull a 900

revert the landing, manual over to a rail, grind up it (awww yeah), then find something else to do at the top. As you can imagine, I was getting some pretty nice points off it : )

vsp · 04-09-2002, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dhamsaic
Man. I'm on the mission for Tony where you blow up the laundromat trucks (I've only been playing for a day, remember) and it is damn hard. I blow up a truck and automatically get 2 stars on the cop radar. From there I maybe get 1 more before I'm busted. Any secrets to this?

Sure. The easiest way to handle this mission is to get in a car and follow a targeted truck. When it gets to a place where it stops, like a red light (since they're not on alert yet), pull in front of the truck and block its path without touching it. Then carjack the truck and drive it away, leaving the angry driver behind.

Destroy the truck any way you like -- take it to the crusher, flip it over, ram it into things until it's flaming, get out and grenade/shotgun it until it blows. With you behind the wheel, you can take it somewhere quiet where the cops won't notice, or destroy it by non-weapon means (flipping over or ramming) that the cops don't care about. Then grab another car and go after the NEXT laundry truck. Lather, rinse, repeat.

If you prefer the hands-on method, remember that you can always visit the Pay & Spray to wipe your police record, even in mid-mission...

jeff. your one-stop GTA3 guru (halfway through his third trip through the game)

04-09-2002, 09:34 AM

that's a damn fine idea. i figured that since i was given grenades, i should use them. i never thought about carjacking those though. haha. as hansel says, "it's so simple!"

i have been tony hawkin' it supreme lately, but i might have to get some gta3 in real soon after those tips. i can't really give you any about tony hawk, except "practice"

04-09-2002, 12:35 PM

Man. Tony Hawk owns my life. God.

I'm done all my work here today so I'm waiting for Mike to give me something more to do. In the meantime, I'm thinking about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I have the original on the Dreamcast and versions 2x and 3 on Xbox.

And I want to go home and play.

Man, they're such complete games... there's so much to do in them. All I can think of is getting home and playing. I only beat the first one with one character - Tony. I should beat it with more.

I haven't even beaten 2x yet (not enough time). I should beat it with all the characters. Unlock everything. Must. Do. Everything.

And then there's 3... which I'm making damn good headway on. But I still need to make perfect runs with all the skaters. God.

By the time I'm done all that, Tony Hawk 4 will have been out for a while and I'll probably already have it. I am addicted.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has got to be one of the best game series ever. I simply can't think of anything more complete and perfect.

There aren't enough hours in the day...

vsp · 04-09-2002, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dhamsaic
that's a damn fine idea. i figured that since i was given grenades, i should use them. i never thought about carjacking those though. haha. as hansel says, "it's so simple!"

i have been tony hawkin' it supreme lately, but i might have to get some gta3 in real soon after those tips. i can't really give you any about tony hawk, except "practice"

Oddly enough, I have never tried any of the Tony Hawk games. I know how critically acclaimed they are, but they just haven't piqued my interest. Same goes for Tomb Raider in all its incarnations. The only skating game I have was Jet Grind Radio for the DC, and I never got out of the training mode on that.

The beauty of GTA3 is that there are usually several ways to approach the average mission. For instance, you've offed "Chunky" Lee Chong by now, and may have had some difficulty if you approached it in the obvious way (you have to deal with or run past three Triad gunsels while Chunky flees to his car). Option two is to find the bums in the tunnel underneath Saint Mark's -- run 'em over, take their Molotov cocktails, then go back to Chinatown and fling one from a distance. Chunky will be roasted before he or his flunkies even know you're in town.

Or option three is less efficient, but gets major points for style -- without alerting Chunky, steal his getaway car (a Perennial). Take it to 8-Ball's, put a bomb in it, then go back to Chinatown and flush him out. He'll run to his car (which you put back where you found it), start to drive away and FOOM! Mission cleared, overtime for the maid.

Free hint: do as much as you can in Portland (hidden packages, rampages, and particularly El Burro's missions) _before_ you leave for Staunton Island. (You can't leave yet, but you'll know your opportunity when it arrives.) Without spoiling too much, those missions will be a lot harder if you leave town and come back. And if El Burro's first one (Turismo) gives you fits, do Fire Truck missions until the car you extinguish is a white-and-red sports car (the Yakuza Stinger), which has the best handling in the game... use THAT to outrun the Diablos.

jeff. You will learn to hate El Burro. With a passion.

04-07-2002, 11:21 PM	#16
cornelius Fine drunken debauchery Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 18	You know, speaking of the Sega Genesis, I really need to get a Sega Nomad. Genesis games on a portable system, that's just plain cool. Also, the new Greatest Hits for the PS2 has come into effect now, so I can get all the games I've wanted for only 20 bucks now. Oh yeah, MGS2, Dark Cloud, Twisted Metal Black, all three for only sixty bucks. That ought to help take my mind off of things for a while now. I never really noticed any problems with the gravity in THPS3 for the GC, just that it's basically a revamped THPS2...125,000 from grinding all over the first level... I really wish I knew what the first game I ever played was called. It was on a really really really old apple (1985, I believe). This guy was stranded on some planet and had to go around and kill aliens with his ray gun and collect apples for health. It was kind of like Legend of Zelda, except way before Legend of Zelda. That was the game that got me hooked onto VGs for life, and I really wish I knew what it was called, because I want to download it and an emulator. Nostalgia, baby, nostaligia. __________________ Misery doesn't love company. Misery loves a good bottle of vodka!

04-08-2002, 10:40 AM	#18
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Check on eBay for a Nomad. I've been thinking about getting one for a while now but I'm more interested in just having the Genesis hooked up to my TV at home. I'll need to buy another A/V switch (currently have 4 consoles hooked up to that TV on one A/V switch, wahoo) and then use it for GameCube, Super Nintendo and Genesis, but that's alright. I can do that. Man, I spent a lot of time this weekend on Tony Hawk 3 and Grand Theft Auto and <b>DAMN!</b> GTA3 is <b>good</b>. Tony Hawk 3 is <b>good</b>. Tony Hawk 3 still seems harder than the first one, but I have all of the important stats (air, hangtime, ollie, rail balance, spin, etc) all maxed out now, so I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it. I was watching some of the movies they have and some of the moves they do are just fucking nuts. Manuals in between grinds, that sort of shit. 600,000 point moves and stuff. I need to get that good. I'm thrilled when I pull off a 20,000 point combo. Damn.

04-08-2002, 02:26 PM	#19
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	... A bunch of responses: My console collection (a few of each in most cases): * Atari 2600/5200/7800/XEGS/Jaguar * Mattel Intellivision (original gold and condensed white), Aquarius * ColecoVision * Odyssey^2 * Bally Astrocade * Three Vectrexes * Sega Master System, Genesis, CDX, Saturn, Dreamcast, Game Gear * Nintendo NES, SNES, Virtual Boy, (wife's) Game Boy / GB Color * TurboGrafx/16, TurboDuo, import adapter, two TurboExpresses * Sony PSX (two, one modded), PS2 * Goldstar 3DO * Microvision * multiple NeoGeo Pocket Colors Yes, I have zero life. As for my own gaming preferences: PORTABLES: The NGPC has grown on me quite a bit. Cardfighter's Clash has burned away much of my free time, it actually makes fighting games playable in a two-button format, and its capabilities (IMHO) blew away the GB Color. Pity that it didn't have Nintendo's marketing muscle or Pokemon. The Game Boy family has never really grown on me that much -- there are games I'll play on them, certainly, but nothing that's made me run out and buy one for myself. Fire Pro Wrestling for the GBA has me tempted, but I'll wait until I find one for cheap. The Game Gear is (and was) a hunk of junk. Ditto for the Microvision. For my money, the best portable of all time is clearly the TurboExpress -- color screen, easy Japanese game compatibility, a TV Tuner attachment, and the ability to play the FULL system's games instead of scaled-down ports (think of what the GB would be like if it could play real NES/SNES carts). The Nomad is similar, but played Genesis games (most of which I disdain) and ate up batteries extremely quickly. OLD-SCHOOL CONSOLES: The Atari 2600 had the game library, pure and simple. Once 2600 adapters existed for the Intellivision and ColecoVision, there was no longer any reason to own a real 2600. Intellivision was the king of sports and strategy games, and gets my nod as the king of its era; ColecoVision had some funky arcade ports and finishes a close second. The Bally Astrocade had The Incredible Wizard (a FANTASTIC port of Wizard of Wor) and little else to recommend it, apart from the coolest controllers of all time. (Trigger-grip with a rotating knob on top that doubled as a joystick -- a thing of beauty.) The Odyssey^2 had K.C. Munchkin (the best home Pac-Man until the authentic 5200 version came out, and even that was flawed by the horrid 5200 joysticks) and not much else. A 5200 with real controllers would have ruled the fricking world; as it was, it was a footnote. (Still has the only home port of Space Dungeon, though.) Anyone who doesn't have a Vectrex is missing the boat -- it was such a unique gaming experience that everyone should play it at least once. (Picture a vertical mini-TV with vector graphics, playing an Asteroids clone, Cinematronics ports and a host of fun-but-funky ports.) I have one for sale, BTW. Sadly, the 3D goggles are like hen's teeth to find. The other old-timer consoles (the original Odyssey, Fairchild Channel F, APF Imagination Machine, RCA Studio II, Emerson Arcadia, etc.) weren't much beyond glorified Pong machines. I'll split this up for readability purposes...

04-08-2002, 02:59 PM	#20
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	... CARTRIDGE CONSOLES: What can I say about the NES? Obviously, it was the 900-pound gorilla of its era -- lots of great games, lots of real stinkers. Some authentic ports of old-school classics, some "modernizations" that were wincingly bad (I'm looking at YOU, NES Gyruss). Anyone who can't find five games worth playing on the NES isn't trying, though they may have to wade through some crap to find them. The Sega Master System tried to compete and failed, though it did spawn one of the first great console RPGs (Phantasy Star). I've never been sold on either the Genesis or the SNES. Too many platformers, too many repetitive games, too much shovelware. There were gems for both systems, of course (FF2-3, Ogre Battle, Mario Kart, perhaps Tetris Attack for the SNES, Herzog Zwie, the Thunder Force series, and the Sonics for the Genny), but I've played both systems combined less than I have, say, my Jaguar or my 3DO. There were fun games to be found, but the Japanese titles (most of which never found their way here) were often far more interesting than what I see today clogging flea-market bargain bins. The TurboGrafx (and its Japanese version, the PC-Engine) was the most underrated system ever, IMHO. Fabulous power, great games, easy compatibility with Japanese titles, ports that were often better than the SNES/Genesis versions, some of the best shoot-em-ups ever (Blazing Lazers comes to mind), and a CD-ROM attachment to come. PLUS you could play your games on the road with the Express. Other than the price tag, what wasn't to like? And the Jaguar... well, let's just say that there are exactly four (4) games worth having for the Jag. Tempest 2000, Rayman, Defender 2000, and Aliens vs. Predator. AvP looks horribly dated today, as it has the framerate of a flip-book. However, the first three will RULE YOUR WORLD -- some of the best games ever created. (The Jaguar CD is best left as a curiosity.) I'll cover the N64 in the next section, despite its lack of CD-ROM capabilities... THE CD-ROM ERA: ...because its specs once included a CD-ROM unit, to be designed by Sony. When that fell through, Sony designed their own CD-ROM console, and the rest was history... But the Sega CD and 3DO did come first. The former had zero going for it other than Working Designs RPGs, particularly the Lunar series (now available on PSX). The latter had a handful of titles that were wonderful in their day (the original Need For Speed, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Samurai Shodown, PO'ed, Out Of This World, Shanghai, Battlesport, Gex, Alone in the Dark). The TurboCD (also sold as a standalone TurboDuo console) remains one of my favorites, even if some of its games are dated today. Great games, very easy Japan compatibility, and the best Castlevania game EVER (Dracula X: The Rondo of Blood). And then came Sony. It took me a while to warm up to the PSX, but once a bunch of worthy imports started trickling in (and even more so when I modded my system to play imports that WEREN'T brought to the States), I wore it out to the point where I had to replace the CD-ROM drive. The game library is huge and varied, and there's really no reason not to own one. Whatever your tastes, games of that type exist therein. The N64, on the other hand, is wonderful as long as you're between the ages of eight and sixteen. I was not. To this day, it and the Atari Lynx are the only major mass-marketed game systems I haven't bought between the 2600 and the PS2, because there's simply nothing I want to play on it that badly. (The Lynx is more of an oversight on my part, and that I can't find the carts for it cheaply.) The Saturn was badly underrated. It had a lot of quirky games nothing like what the other systems were offering (NiGHTS, the Panzer Dragoon series, Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes), it had Sega's flagship titles (VF2, Virtua Cop, Fighters Megamix, Daytona, Sega Rally, Virtual On), it had easy Japanese compatibility, and it had major multitaps (six-player Fire Pro Wrestling S! Ten-player Bomberman!). Plus LOTS of awesome imports like Fire Pro S, Soukyugurentai, Cotton 2, Chatting Parodius and Bubble Symphony... The Saturn failed to kill the PSX, so Bernie Stolar pulled the plug on it in the US in favor of the Dreamcast. Again, an underrated console, for many of the same reasons -- Fire Pro D on it remains my favorite wrestling game for realism AND fun, Soul Calibur and the NFL2K series are jaw-dropping, VF3 is there, Crazy Taxi is flat-out fun... but the game library was lacking for a while and by the time it started catching up, the PS2 had arrived and the DC was dead in the water. I picked up the PS2 this Christmas -- again, I was waiting for second-generation titles that interested me. Grand Theft Auto 3 is certainly that; I have no memory of anything that happened in the month of January, apart from missions and carjackings and blowing up ice-cream trucks with rocket launchers for the sheer malicious glee of it. This is my favorite game of the entire CD-ROM era, one of the best of all time -- it's deep and playable on so many levels, whether you're playing it with a purpose or just screwing around. My wife's been having fun with Fatal Frame (think Resident Evil with cameras), Virtua Fighter 4 is tremendous and a major upgrade to the series, Devil May Cry is flashy... the library has plenty of weak spots, but the good games (like GTA3) far outweigh the negatives. The XBox bores me so far, as does the Gamecube. Not necessarily bad consoles, but there's nothing yet for either that excites me. Maybe next year. So, what did I miss?

04-08-2002, 03:44 PM	#21
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Man. I'm on the mission for Tony where you blow up the laundromat trucks (I've only been playing for a day, remember) and it is damn <b>hard</b>. I blow up a truck and automatically get 2 stars on the cop radar. From there I maybe get 1 more before I'm busted. Any secrets to this?

04-08-2002, 10:11 AM	#17
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	I have an original Playstation, a SNES, an Atari 2600 (bought with a load of cartridges as a birthday present for my wife), an original Gameboy (barely works--the battery connection is loose), and a brand-new Game Boy Advance. I don't really bother with PC games... partly I can't be bothered to keep my computer up to get good performance out of them (I currently have a 4 yo 233MHz MMX system at home). It's completely irrational. As for the consoles, I would take the Playstation as the primo console in terms of number & variety of games, and I still drag it out occasionally. But the one I spend the most time with is the Gameboy... I can carry it anywhere in the house and don't have to negotiate for use of the TV or computer. (Being old-fashioned, we only have one of each. Well, one WORKING one of each.) The other thing is, Gameboy games tend to be simpler, and that suits me. Those of you of A Certain Age may remember Defender, which was one of the popular arcade games when I was in high school back in the early 80s. I could never play it--WAY too complicated. It had 4 or 5 different kinds of ammunition, so you had to remember which button did what, etc. etc. Frogger and Q-Bert are more my speed. So, while I've whiled away the occasional hour or two playing Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy Tactics on the Playstation, the bulk of my gaming time is puzzle or classic arcade titles on the Gameboy.

04-08-2002, 06:33 PM	#23
cornelius Fine drunken debauchery Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 18	I'm gonna take a guess that you mean GTA3, and not Tony? I don't remember blowing up trucks in Tony... Anyways, if you just take your time blowing them up, you should be ok. Plus, the trucks go all over the city, just follow one until it's not near anything else, and then blow it up. If you get stars from it, you'll be in the middle of nowhere, and should be able to stay away from the cops until your wanted level goes down. Then just go do it again. __________________ Misery doesn't love company. Misery loves a good bottle of vodka!

04-08-2002, 11:46 PM	#24
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Oh, hehe. Yeah, GTA3, but that's a mission for the mob guy Tony. That's what I meant Tony Hawk I'm doing pretty well on, working on manuals between tricks and shit. Pulled off like an 80,000 point combo earlier. Now <b>that</b> was cool. Sadly, because I spent most of the night cleaning up the living room, I have not yet had the chance to work on some PS2 gaming. Like I said, I've been playing Tony though. Jenni wanted to play with me, and when a girl wants to play a video game, I let her - this is a rare occasion, my friends. Must encourage good behavior. Man, I hope when they put out the PS2 hard drive, they take advantage of the FireWire port on the front of the PS2. That would totally rule, especially if you could save game data to it and shit. Lalala. I do like PS2. I'm just not as impressed, graphically, with the games as I am with Xbox. Plus I think that the Xbox hardware will take it farther than PS2. Wait for the games that come out this winter... they'll be killer I bet. Must get GameCube... Rogue Leader... Super Monkey Ball... Soul Calibur 2...

04-09-2002, 04:58 AM	#25
cornelius Fine drunken debauchery Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 18	This guy I work with went to Activision for a job interview and he was telling me about some of the guys there. Apparently, one of the guys at Activision can consistently get 50,000,000 point combos (yes that's the right number of zeros) without even trying. Now that's just sick. __________________ Misery doesn't love company. Misery loves a good bottle of vodka!

04-09-2002, 06:35 AM	#26
dave Guest Posts: n/a	He might have had the cheat codes in. I've seen some <b>unreal</b> combos and they only go up to about a million points or so... If I had perfect rail balance and perfect manual balance (like maybe what the Activision guy had), I could do 50,000,000 point combos too... but I don't However, I did play some Hawk last night after writing that (okay, about 90 minutes worth, while I was waiting for laundry) and I got some <b>nice</b> combos pulled out. My favorite was on the Canada level, starting out with a couple grinds (all together to get my special meter up), manual real quick over to the ramp on the left, grind down that, manual out of it and over to one of the pipes going down the parking lot, grind that, quick manual to the ramp, then pull a 900 revert the landing, manual over to a rail, grind up it (awww yeah), then find something else to do at the top. As you can imagine, I was getting some pretty nice points off it : )

04-09-2002, 09:34 AM	#28
dave Guest Posts: n/a	that's a damn fine idea. i figured that since i was given grenades, i should use them. i never thought about carjacking those though. haha. as hansel says, "it's so simple!" i have been tony hawkin' it supreme lately, but i might have to get some gta3 in real soon after those tips. i can't really give you any about tony hawk, except "practice"

04-09-2002, 12:35 PM	#29
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Man. Tony Hawk owns my life. God. I'm done all my work here today so I'm waiting for Mike to give me something more to do. In the meantime, I'm thinking about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I have the original on the Dreamcast and versions 2x and 3 on Xbox. And I want to go home and play. Man, they're such complete games... there's so much to do in them. All I can think of is getting home and playing. I only beat the first one with one character - Tony. I should beat it with more. I haven't even beaten 2x yet (not enough time). I should beat it with all the characters. Unlock everything. Must. Do. Everything. And then there's 3... which I'm making damn good headway on. But I still need to make perfect runs with all the skaters. God. By the time I'm done all that, Tony Hawk 4 will have been out for a while and I'll probably already have it. I am addicted. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has got to be one of the best game series ever. I simply can't think of anything more complete and perfect. There aren't enough hours in the day...

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)