FredEffinChopin

Cleared up some friend list space, so I'm finally posting here. Although my PSN ID has been in my avatar the whole time I've been on the forums... PristineSneakers Feel free to send an invite. I'll refrain from sending a bunch out, since I'm not sure how many people are even still active on PSN. I can't really be relied on to play any online games consistently, but am happy to team up for anything I happen to be playing when someone else is. I'm also always happy to lend a hand to anyone who needs some help with trophies, so if you're working on something and see it in my trophy list, feel free to shoot me a line, and if I still have the game I'll help. As far as I go, I just like having a healthy list of active players around for whatever reason. It's cool to see what people are playing, and to see who chases which trophies and such.

I plan to watch how their first year plays out. If they're actually walking the walk (as far as catering to the "hardcore" with their library) then there is a good chance of my buying one. It's impossible to say right now. Bayonetta is a great sign. Most of the other signs point to a slightly less underwhelming Wii experience though. I'm more receptive than I had expected I would be at this point. Of course announcements regarding a new Xbox or Playstation could be the end of my consideration. I really want to get a gauge for whether or not one of these consoles is going to be the odd one out.

Yeah, I'm sorry, Nintendo do not have their finger on my pulse. Coloring your console black doesn't make it hardcore. Trying to sell me on 2D platformers, 1st-party kiddie titles/30-year-old franchises, a tablet controller, and low storage capacity is like trying to bait a shark with a head of lettuce. If I'm supposed to look forward to all the multiplatform 3rd party stuff, I already have something(s) that can play those, and I'm pretty confident that MS and Sony's next offerings will outclass in terms of hardware. Confident enough that I'll at least wait to see what's on the table before shelling out for the Wii-U. As Thursday said, I get that some people enjoy those types of titles that Nintendo are offering, and I can enjoy them too, in small doses. I'm not making that the core of the part of the console experience that is supposed to be unique to the console I'm playing on. I'm definitely not getting excited for a new platform to play them on. Well, them and games that I will have beaten over a year ago when the system releases.

Sure am. Started on PS2 originally, but am PC this time, as well as the first time I came back to it. Ugh, I am sick...

Finally slowing down on the FFXI again, at least for now. I've been playing Max Payne 3 and Rock Band Blitz on the side. I'm pleasantly surprised by the latter of those, I hadn't anticipated it could be as involved as it is. They definitely make you work, think, and learn the tracks closely for those gold stars. There are definitely small things that could have been added/improved on (I find the clumsy interface especially baffling since they've had that more-or-less nailed since RB2), but overall I'm pretty satisfied with the product.

^^^^ Absolutely love those videos. So cool.

I just got an email with a beta key. If these things aren't attached to accounts (which I don't think they are), I'm happy to PM it to the first interested reply in here.

Actually what you said they should be doing is what they have been doing, from what I understand. A buddy of mine has been playing with his wife for some months now (both of them tried it when it first came out and left in disgust), and they've been saying a lot of good things about the game, as well as the changes that have gradually been introduced, and the ones to come. It seems like SE have been very close to the community as far as taking and reacting to feedback, and announcing their roadmap details in advance. According to him the players over there are really pleased with how things are unfolding, and while the world change itself is going to be abrupt, I understand that it's tied into the current setting/plot(s) neatly, and is being built up to in a fashion. That's all second-hand, but I trust the guy's assessment. I'm pretty excited, personally. If anything just to see the outcome of this drawn-out debacle. But I can't lie, I'm excited for the game too. I'll be on day-1.

Still on this Elis Regina tip big time. But why post a normal video of her singing Upa Neguinho when I can post this weird montage of live performances someone stitched together? Did I mention that the cuteness makes me bleed honey from my eyes? Anyway, btwn her, Joao Gilberto, Edu Lobo, and some other singles I'm catching here and there, it looks like my musical encounter with Brazil isn't over yet. Loving every minute of it, wish you were here!

Even though the question is there inviting me I feel like I'm trolling.... I declared Kinect a failure back when it was called "Eye Toy". Improving the tracking tech slightly doesn't change the main problem; the interface, the human body. Controllers and games have evolved hand-in-hand for a long time, so naturally removing one of those things and trying to leave the other as-is is going to be really awkward. It would take far superior tech of this type to achieve the wild fantasies that they sold everyone on, and even then it's still not for our video games as we know them. Aside from a few neat ideas the could apply to gaming (peripherally, *in addition to* a more traditional interface, usually) all anyone has been able to come up with is drastically dumbed-down versions of the games we've come to enjoy, where physical motions are mapped to functions that would normally be executed by a button-press. So basically they're re-inventing the wheel and making it a trapezoid this time around. It's great to use for certain things. Mainly dancing. And working out, and stuff like that. I'm sure it could teach me Kung-Fu (woooah.....), but it won't let me be be Ryu Hayabusa. @Strangelove I feel that last sentiment big-time. Every time I saw the word "potential" being thrown around in regards to this thing (especially after months of it just lying on the ground panting while people waited for backflips) I wanted to go to sleep. If you've ever asked one of those people what the potential they were imagining looked like, it was always either be a fantastic tale of technically impossible (for the device) feats and improbable premises that would be lousy even if someone was stupid enough to attempt to breathe life into them, or you would discover that they only knew that the tech looked impressive, and they were expecting all the big and unexpected ideas to come from devs any minute. So it's been a while, and while I hate to say "I told you so", I also love saying it. As I had expected, devs put a big smile on and did their best, but pretty much just scratched their heads at the thing when everything was said and done. Even though it's not quite done... it is in one sense. I suspect that we'll see the child of Kinect next gen though. I hope for the sake of the people who are still holding out hope for the device that whoever designed the first one just admits they were wrong and makes sure that the next one is designed to work in conjunction with a controller. And sitting down. That's the day I'll stop disrespecting it as gimmick that was convincingly developed, marketed, and sold on a premise that had already (and recently) proven to be whack. I felt like I was in the Twighlight Zone watching those things sell... I was excited for the Eye Toy at first too, btw. I went through all the emotions that initial Kinect enthusiasts went through, used the word "possibilities" a whole bunch, and started trying to imagine how it might change the way I game. Then I bought one. Then I started really examining this potential I was hoping and waiting for, and discovered it to be a fleeting thing. I also realized that many ideas that seemed halfway decent involved a controller working with the camera. It seems the dudes who made the Eye Toy realized that as well, and went a more practical route. I just don't understand why much of the gaming community at-large decided to pretend that that never happened... Anyway, ultimately any drastically different interface needs to be able to help us do new and more things in games if it wants to attract the "hardcore" gaming audience. That's the way we've evolved this whole time. We want to be able to accomplish/execute as much as possible, as quickly and easily as possible. The fantasy from childhood for my gaming in the future was playing a Zelda game in three dimensions and gorgeous graphics where I could ride my horse around while firing arrows in any direction, draw a sword while jumping the gap, and aim for the skeleteon's head before I hit the ground. The fantasy was not jumping in a fixed spot with my legs spread to let the game know my horse should run, as I try to convince myself that I'm so immersed. Let the game emulate the awesome shit and give us greater and more detailed control over it, not the other way around. Sure, there are AR and VR possibilities that are interesting and will likely catch my interest in the future. They may likely even be the future of games. As games stand now though, don't try to sell me on taking away the stuff that works most in the name of so-called innovation. When the future is here I'll know it. This isn't it.

I felt guilty about not giving their latest stuff a chance, as they lost me some time ago, but after reading that I feel less guilty. You don't revisit classic tracks like that unless you've got some masterful plan. Especially this long later. Especially that song. Ugh. I'd have gold stars in that within an hour It does look like a fun one to play though, definitely. Do you have any idea htf people are creating custom tracks like that and how one goes about obtaining them? I had seen it done in the past with Guitar Hero, which I know to be a PC release, but I ignored it as I'm not a fan of that interface. If there is a scene of people making custom RB shit with pro support though, I need to find out where it is and stand in the center of it. I might even have to learn how to contribute. I think there's still value in stuff The Offspring do, you just have to adjust your expectations a bit. Ever since Ixnay, they have always gone in a different direction overall but there are flashes of the old stuff in there. With that Rx Bandits song, I wasn't really talking about technical skill (though I think I did show you Bled To Be Free by them) but the overall composition and creativity. The drummer just blows my mind. The custom RB stuff is all part of the Rock Band Network initiative, I believe. They released some sort of software or something that people can purchase or license or whatever and it enables them to create charts to go with songs. I figure a lot of people just use it for personal enjoyment, but it looks like a fair few companies/individuals actually work for bands or record labels and create the tracks to sell on RBN. If you could figure out how it works, you could theoretically make anything you wanted though you'd need to hold the licence to make any money off of it though. I was just being a smug gold-star collector haha, not disparaging at all. It was a pretty slick tune, and I def dug the drums. I should have realized what that was. I'm aware of the RBN tools, I guess I just saw that and was hoping that people had figured out a way to share those custom tracks with people, regardless of whether or not it gets picked up on RBN. It really would be amazing... The DLC release schedule has slowed to a crawl ever since they were sold by MTV, and the selections rarely do anything at all for me. Oh well. Guess it's back to waiting for Harmonix to secure the stuff I'm interested in playing in there.

Oh yeah I'm listening to stuff. One of the greatest live recordings my ears have ever been fortunate enough to take in. I'm so glad I bumped into this woman's music recently. I'm so stumped as to why I've lived this long without ever having heard of her. The fact that she isn't brought up when greatest singers of the century are being discussed is downright criminal. I'm even having a hard time finding some of her stuff on youtube. are another couple of for anyone who thinks they want to hear more. Yeah, I'm in love.

I felt guilty about not giving their latest stuff a chance, as they lost me some time ago, but after reading that I feel less guilty. You don't revisit classic tracks like that unless you've got some masterful plan. Especially this long later. Especially that song. Ugh. I'd have gold stars in that within an hour It does look like a fun one to play though, definitely. Do you have any idea htf people are creating custom tracks like that and how one goes about obtaining them? I had seen it done in the past with Guitar Hero, which I know to be a PC release, but I ignored it as I'm not a fan of that interface. If there is a scene of people making custom RB shit with pro support though, I need to find out where it is and stand in the center of it. I might even have to learn how to contribute. My friend has been bugging me to snag that game for a couple of weeks now. That little tidbit of info might actually make me do it sooner than later.

Always makes me happy to hear stuff like this. I got in touch with a friend from XI a couple of weeks ago (I just went back to XI about 6 weeks ago, myself) and he and his wife seem pretty hooked, and impressed with a lot of the changes Yoshida has already implemented, as well as ones to come. From what I understand, the massive overhaul that's going to take place is going to be integrated into the story in some pretty interesting ways too, which I thought was neat. I'm waiting on the PS3 version, as my PC scored kinda low on the benchmark. Pretty psyched for it though. Ok back to farming gear for BCNM.

Came up in my shuffle while driving earlier. Sometimes not hearing a song for a while makes it even better than it was... Bumped this from the Triboro into Jamaica, like 5 consecutive listens haha. Some of their finest work.

I was psyched for Sports Champions 2 until I read this response on the Playstation blog, in response to a question about whether or not there will be online play: We totally understand the desire for online multiplayer, but this is a feature we unfortunately are unable to support given our constraints. This decision was not made without careful consideration. A very bare bones online multiplayer implementation might have been possible if we cut enough of our new features (Ex. Calibration free gameplay, Party Play and Create-A-Player), but we weren’t okay with doing online multiplayer unless we could do it right and without sacrificing so much to the rest of the game. Hopefully the vastly improved local multiplayer experience in SC2 helps with this news. As we feel that with SC2 we are catering to that group of friends and family gameplay in a much better way than what was possible on SC1. Such a huge letdown. I would have gotten SO much more mileage out of the game (though I still to put it on now & then) if I could play online with a couple of friends of mine who like it too. What I don't get is why there wasn't online play in the first one if none of those things mentioned were present? Anyway, I'll probably check it out, but I'm really disappointed. I actually think I'm the only person who enjoyed the horrifically stereotypical characters. For whatever reason I get a kick out of it when a developer has the balls to go there with their humor. As long is it's equal-opportunity I usually won't have much of a problem with it. Not saying I completely approve of it in a game that might well be purchased specifically for young children, but it's made me smile more than once. It's the more subtle racism that bothers me more than racial humor most of the time. Maybe subtle isn't the word... It's the racism or racial ignorance (mild or otherwise) that reveals itself unintentionally in a game (or any other storytelling medium) that can be a bit uncomfortable for me. Though I might still laugh at that, only for different reasons... But yeah, this stuff was pretty mild despite being totally blatant and in-your-face about it. The stereotypes being drawn on (that I can recall atm) didn't seem like especially insulting ones or anything.

I don't normally try to speak for people, but I think I might be able to sum up at least a part Dean's criticism of Nintendo's library in recent years: Wii doesn't seem to be especially capable of being the sole console in a "hardcore" gamer's living room. If one owns only a PS3, PC, or 360, one can spend every waking hour trying to pour through those libraries and still never make a dent in them. While the fact might not be much from a practical standpoint (we can't spend more hours gaming than there are hours in a day), it says something for the diversity of their offerings. Even the pickiest gamers shouldn't have dry spells that last too long when zeroing in on their next target. Sure, many of us own multiple consoles to experience the best of what each has to offer, but I'd wager most of us can live on either a 360, PC, or PS3 if we needed to. Can anyone say that for the Wii though? I'm sure some people can, maybe even some in here, but I think the individual who feels that way about it is a rare one among people whose main hobby is gaming, and who take it seriously. We can name games that are exclusive to the Wii platform, but that's not that impressive once we realize that the vast majority of games must be exclusive since they dropped out of the hardware race, opting to bank on motion control being a more appealing feature to gamers (two separate but intertwined factors) instead, making them an isolated platform for developers. The fact of Nintendo developing anything in-house or through a purchased studio doesn't impress me either, as it seems like something they absolutely had to do if they didn't want a library that has many holes in it. Also I doubt Brain Age is of the same quality of their Marios and Star Foxes. Can someone argue the quality of some of the titles on Wii? Sure. But you have to do more than convince me that they have a selection that is up to par. Considering the (to me) frustrating interface that it doesn't let you drop for a second, the last-gen graphics, and the library that (size-wise) looks just adorable next to the bloated competition, one would have to convince me that these exclusive games on Wii are BETTER than what's being offered on the other side. If I may be frank, Nintendo's current actions do nothing but speak for the validity of a lot of their criticism, even (and especially) as Reggie goes out there and makes a show of throwing up his hands in exasperated confusion. The Wii didn't have a library capable of supporting it. Or perhaps the base of Wii-owners are largely not the software purchasers Nintendo had hoped they would be. Probably some combination of those. The point is, having released alongside the PS3 and 1-year after 360, Nintendo is in the position of having to come out with a new console at least one year before the others. AND they're deciding to market it towards the people they keep denying they neglected, though it seems like it could potentially be mostly lip service, as they chase (or at very least leave the door wide open for) those casual sales that drove the Wii so fast initially. We all can sit here and debate the potency of the Nintendo brand all we like, or discuss whether or not they know what gamers want anymore, but there is a very real situation that's very hard to ignore. For the record, I fall into the category of people who have not written the Wii-U off yet, though I'm not exactly excited for it. The tablet was a huge turnoff, but they kept me receptive when they showed off that traditional controller it will support. The fact that they are establishing and re-establishing relationships with 3rd party devs that have mostly worked on PC, MS, and Sony in recent years is promising as well. It seems like they're still kinda half-assing it with the hardware game though, which I believe is a good deal of what lost them so much ground this gen in the first place (in terms of gamer-interest I mean, not sales). Improved hardware is the science of video games that makes that realm a far more interesting place than it would be otherwise. It's not just about pixels and polygons, but about what types of games can be pulled off as hardware improves as well. Nintendo has shown little-to-no respect for that progression recently, between the Wii, 3DS, and potentially even the Wii-U. We'll see what happens. Also, for the record, I'm not much of an FPS guy. I actually avoided them at all costs for a couple of years when it seemed like nothing but FPS were being released, though, I've steadily let the genre back into my rotation. I enjoy many genres, and if asked for a favorite I would name RPG. I just want to make it clear that I don't represent the chest-thumping COD crowd when I criticize Nintendo and give my approval of Sony and MS. I tried to hold on to Nintendo for as long as I could, but they eventually just lost me. Perhaps they felt like they were getting beaten in their own game and decided to play a different one. As someone who grew up in an era where Nintendo was virtually synonymous with "video game", it really sucked to see them lose me like that. And that's what Reggie and many others don't seem to be able to wrap their heads around. Gamers aren't the ones who changed our ways so much, Nintendo has. That's why many of us feel "abandoned" by them. I'm sure he and most at Nintendo are well aware of that though, he's just doing his job.

Playing it on PC. It's cross-platform though (one of my favorite features about it), so I'm in the same boat w/ 360 and PS2 players, the latter of which being the platform where I first played. Good times, but I think some of my friends are getting concerned =p They've seen me here before though, they know I'll be back soon. Or eventually....

Since I was too busy listening to Propagandhi and Bad Religion in my JHS/HS years, there were a lot of real solid artists that didn't get the attention they properly deserved for years. I think I only really gave Bjork a first legitimate listen somewhere around 3 years ago. While modern music distribution and storage has seen to it that much of my intake of new music is sporadic, I made sure to get on Bjork on an album-to-album basis from the start, as she seemed like the kind of artist worth getting-to-know that way. The thing about that is I kinda stopped after a certain point and haven't continued haha. Debut, Post (easily my favorite start-to-end of them so far), and Homogenic were the ones I mostly became acquainted with and would throw on deliberately, and the rest I would experience in pieces through shuffle, with the intent of dedicated listens once I felt well acquainted enough w/ the first few albums. A few tunes caught my ear in my shuffles here and there that made me throw on Vespertine some eventually (Heirloom was the biggest factor there, and eventually Hidden Place when I heard it), but my experience with that album is somewhat disjointed, as is my experience w/ Selma Songs. I'm pretty sure I left out whole albums too, when I first obtained her stuff, as it was just too much for me to even try to tackle visually, let alone aurally haha. Anyway yeah, she's one of a kind. I'm definitely glad to have gotten into her work, and really should finish hearing it all.

Been on a kick...

Final Fantasy XI .... again @.@ Pretty much nothing but that for about 5 weeks now. In this period of time I've already determined that this is my unhealthiest fling the game and I have had yet. I've been playing way too much. Max Payne has been staring at me for weeks, along with 12 free PS+ games and whatever else has been sitting waiting for me to get around to it. The list keeps getting longer... I think my skin is getting paler... Help......

I was just going to bitch about this in my status, but Dean set me on a better path. http://techtroid.co.uk/santa-monica-studio-looking-for-testers-for-new-fps-10792 It's fun to lead excited gamers into the hands of shady-ass craigslist ads that would extract their personal information under false pretenses! I don't know whether to call this gross but unintentional negligence on the part of the writer for not bothering to examine the listing more than peripherally, or call it intentionally negligent for his using the obviously suspect (at best) posting to write a unique (and false) news story that would bring site hits. Either way, this is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to reporting. From reading the article you would think this i straight fact. I find it absolutely disgusting.

It's hard to explain exactly when/why the game froze up on me, but I had been sticking to the auto-match system as I had gotten the impression that I was less susceptible to freezing that way. I think it's kinda moot now though, because I've been experiencing 1P freezing again, which I thought was resolved after the first time I rebuilt the file system on the HDD. I'm thinking I have to send this PS3 in for repair.... Good thing I'm broke. *sigh*