I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
to bitch :)


5. Resident Evil 4
Everyone complained the controls in RE were horribly clunky and wrecked 
the game. So they shifted the camera angle and it becomes the best game 
ever. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who noticed that the 
controls in RE4 are exactly the same as all the other ones? I can't do 
what I want to do because the controls are holding me back, it feels 
artificially slow to turn, presumably to add some kind of fear, but for 
me it just adds some kind of frustration.

4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
I tried to get into this for around 5 hours before just giving up 
completely. What is the point of making a world so big if 99% of it is 
uninhabited, and only 0.1% was actually designed, the rest just pasted 
from that. I'm all for games breaking away from the corridor shooter 
and out into the open, but this took it too far, with vast, epic worlds 
to play in where there was nothing at all to play with, apart from 
running into a wolf every five minutes. The very definition of tedium.

3. Bioshock
Bioshock isn't bad. It's a 6 or 7. Maybe an 8 given it turned up during 
a massive drought. But it relies entirely on the atmosphere, which is 
utterly superb, and almost manages to hide the fact that what's 
underneath just isn't very good. There are very easy ways to dispatch a 
Big Daddy in seconds, Splicers are completely retarded, dull, 
repetitive and annoying, the plasmids are interesting but in reality I 
only ever used two, and the guns are the usual fare. The 'moral 
dilemma' thing just doesn't work at all. Maybe if every single girl 
wasn't identical it would have been better, but GTA4 did it much better 
as they felt like people. How this got GOTY in the best year of gaming 
history is beyond me.

2. Super Mario World (SNES)
For me a platformer needs two thing: good gameplay and good level 
design. SMW's levels are very dull and the gameplay is annoying. Had 
this come out when SMB did then maybe I'd get the hype. That this came 
out after Sonic despite being visually vastly inferior, playing far 
worse and having level design several light years behind leaves me 
utterly perplexed as to what the deal is.

1. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)
Again, not a bad game as such. Just very bland. I've tried very hard to 
'get it', but it seems devoid of charm, and feels tediously formulaic, 
with no story, dull characters and average gameplay. It was very pretty 
at the time (albeit with a draw distance of about 20 feet), but it just 
bored me to hell.


-- 

Zo

Zomoniac wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
> to bitch :)
>
>

Only one springs to mind.

1.  GTA4

Identikit mission after identikit mission.  Very little variety.  Tedium of 
keeping your friends happy (thankfully I found a way around that but only 
after I finished the game).  Cars that wouldn't know handling if you gave 
them a 4 hour presentation on it.  Bland graphics which look worse in HD 
(looks absolutely bloody gorgeous during a thunderstorm though, lighting 
effects are superb).  Too dark.  Uninspiring multiplayer.  Collect-em-up 
achievements you can't do in co-op (stunts and pigeons, I'm looking right at 
you).  I could go on and on if I put my mind to it.  I only finished it to 
see how the story panned out and even then ab znggre jung lbh qvq lbh 
pbhyqa'g trg n oybbql unccl raqvat.  And, obviously, for the achievements. 
:-)

It's an OK game.  No way deserving of the 10s.  7/10 for me.

-- 

WCZ

On 2 Sep, 10:11, Zomoniac  wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
> to bitch :)
>
> 5. Resident Evil 4
> Everyone complained the controls in RE were horribly clunky and wrecked
> the game. So they shifted the camera angle and it becomes the best game
> ever. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who noticed that the
> controls in RE4 are exactly the same as all the other ones? I can't do
> what I want to do because the controls are holding me back, it feels
> artificially slow to turn, presumably to add some kind of fear, but for
> me it just adds some kind of frustration.

This is so wrong ;-) It is more of a resource management and strategy
game, I think, it is not supposed to be played like a pure FPS.
Having said that, it is actually the only RE game I have played, so I
can't comment as to the control scheme as compared with the others.

> 4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
> I tried to get into this for around 5 hours before just giving up
> completely. What is the point of making a world so big if 99% of it is
> uninhabited, and only 0.1% was actually designed, the rest just pasted
> from that. I'm all for games breaking away from the corridor shooter
> and out into the open, but this took it too far, with vast, epic worlds
> to play in where there was nothing at all to play with, apart from
> running into a wolf every five minutes. The very definition of tedium.

I didn't like the auto-levelling of the enemies along with you. Made
you think, what's the point? It was terribly immersion breaking to
have to play a "I don't want to level too fast" meta-game. I know it
could be fixed with mods, but I don't know if I want to faff around
that much.
Reminds me of an old speccy football management game, Football
Director, I think it was, which would force you into a higher
difficulty level if you got too good (i.e. won enough games to get to
the top of the division). Everyone would instantly be twice as good as
you. Totally spoiled the game for me.

> 3. Bioshock
> Bioshock isn't bad. It's a 6 or 7. Maybe an 8 given it turned up during
> a massive drought. But it relies entirely on the atmosphere, which is
> utterly superb, and almost manages to hide the fact that what's
> underneath just isn't very good. There are very easy ways to dispatch a
> Big Daddy in seconds, Splicers are completely retarded, dull,
> repetitive and annoying, the plasmids are interesting but in reality I
> only ever used two, and the guns are the usual fare. The 'moral
> dilemma' thing just doesn't work at all. Maybe if every single girl
> wasn't identical it would have been better, but GTA4 did it much better
> as they felt like people. How this got GOTY in the best year of gaming
> history is beyond me.

You have a point here. I loved the story, the gameplay turned me off a
bit. The enemies were just a bit rubbish really.

I have no comment on your other 2, I suspect you will be disagreed
with plenty from other posters!

"Zomoniac"  wrote in message 
news:6i4e9bFortenU1@mid.individual.net...
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance to 
> bitch :)

Halo
Halo 2
Halo 3
Halo 4
Halo 5

In article , 
spampit@btinternet.com says...

> 
> 3. Halo
> 
> Earlier part was ok and then it turned shit

and having to wait ages for the PC version because MS hijacked the game 
to be an Xbox exclusive didn't do it any favours either.

-- 
WFC: 3806 6029 8649 8813
XBLA/PSN/Steam: merseymal
Xfire/Quake Wars: malkomm
WAR Beta: Byrokthik the Squig Herder

In article , 
spampit@btinternet.com says...
> In article , 
> spampit@btinternet.com says...
> 
> > 
> > 3. Halo
> > 
> > Earlier part was ok and then it turned shit
> 
> and having to wait ages for the PC version because MS hijacked the game 
> to be an Xbox exclusive didn't do it any favours either.
> 
> 

not to mention the lack of co-op mode on the PC

-- 
WFC: 3806 6029 8649 8813
XBLA/PSN/Steam: merseymal
Xfire/Quake Wars: malkomm
WAR Beta: Byrokthik the Squig Herder

Zomoniac wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)
> 

It's not a (single) game, but the following get my votes:

1. XBLA (360).
The average XBLA game is comparable to any number of free Flash games on 
pc. Interest in them lasts for about as long as it takes to get through 
the demo. The games mostly die a quick death after you unlock "the rest".
The idea is ok in itself, but the whole scene is swarmed by titles that 
have "get rich quick -gimme money now" written all over them. (and I am 
aware they are unlikely to make their creators rich. Doesn't stop them 
trying. None too hard.)


2. "Horror" games. (all formats)
I shat a brick playing that later level in Thief 3. Shalebridge Cradle 
or something like that it's called. _Very_ creepy.
Around that time *everyone* started doing it and it was ok for all of 2 
months. But those "horror" games kept coming. And coming. And coming. 
Like a porno zombie movie.
Enough already. How many times must we hear a young (dead) girl's voice 
through an echo chamber in an old building before we have enough? I've 
had enough already. Around 5 years ago.
Bring back blue sky in games.


3. Annual games releases (all formats)
Nuff said.


  -Kevin.

In article , 
the_proper_one@hotmail.com says...
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)
> 
> 

1. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

This perfectly sums it up.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/75-Oblivion


2. World Of Warcraft

It's an okay mmorpg, but I had a lot more fun playing Dark Age Of 
Camelot than this especially regarding PvP or rather RvR. What I've 
played of Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning in the beta so far is 
promising so I'll be not bothering with Wrath Of The Lich King expansion


3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The need to eat and exercise was tedious. They only needed to add the 
need to go to the loo and it'd be the feckin Sims.


4. Halo

Earlier part was ok and then it turned shit


5. Crysis

Great but PC-killing graphics and very enjoyable until gur nyvraf 
fubjrq hc naq gura vg jrag penc yvxr Sne Pel qvq jura gur zhgnagf 
nccrnerq.



-- 
WFC: 3806 6029 8649 8813
XBLA/PSN/Steam: merseymal
Xfire/Quake Wars: malkomm
WAR Beta: Byrokthik the Squig Herder

On 2008-09-02 10:45:36 +0100, Gunther Gloop 
 said:

> Zomoniac wrote:
>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>> to bitch :)
>> 
> 
> It's not a (single) game, but the following get my votes:
> 
> 1. XBLA (360).
> The average XBLA game is comparable to any number of free Flash games 
> on pc. Interest in them lasts for about as long as it takes to get 
> through the demo. The games mostly die a quick death after you unlock 
> "the rest".
> The idea is ok in itself, but the whole scene is swarmed by titles that 
> have "get rich quick -gimme money now" written all over them. (and I am 
> aware they are unlikely to make their creators rich. Doesn't stop them 
> trying. None too hard.)

Has the last month (Braid, GeoWars 2, Castle Crashers, BC: Rearmed, 
Galaga Legions etc) done nothing to swing your opinion? Six weeks ago 
I'd have agreed with you, but things are improving at an alarming rate.

> 3. Annual games releases (all formats)
> Nuff said.

Didn't you just buy Tiger Woods?


-- 

Zo

SozzlyJoe wrote:

> On 2 Sep, 10:11, Zomoniac  wrote:
> > I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a
> > chance to bitch :)
> > 
> > 5. Resident Evil 4
> > Everyone complained the controls in RE were horribly clunky and
> > wrecked the game. So they shifted the camera angle and it becomes
> > the best game ever. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who
> > noticed that the controls in RE4 are exactly the same as all the
> > other ones? I can't do what I want to do because the controls are
> > holding me back, it feels artificially slow to turn, presumably to
> > add some kind of fear, but for me it just adds some kind of
> > frustration.
> 
> This is so wrong ;-) It is more of a resource management and strategy
> game, I think, it is not supposed to be played like a pure FPS.
> Having said that, it is actually the only RE game I have played, so I
> can't comment as to the control scheme as compared with the others.
 
I've played all PS1 Resident Evils + the Dreamcast one (Code Veronica),
and found RE4 to be a very good and entertaining experience. Then
again, I usually don't have problems accustoming to controls in games.
-- 
qt

On 2008-09-02, Zomoniac  wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)

Oblivion - Standard whinge about autolevelling monsters breaking immersion,
big empty gameworlds and that sort of thing goes here. I mean, I enjoyed what
I played of it, but it didn't grab me enough to make me play more than about
10 hours.

Gears of War - I AM SO MACHO LOOK AT ME KILLING THESE ALIENS RARGH I AM SO
FUCKING MANLY AND NOT IN ANYWAY GIRLY OR HOMOSEXUAL AT ALL FEAR MY TESTOSTERONE
ONCE I AM DONE KILLING THESE ALIENS I AM GOING TO GO HOME AND FUCK TWELVE GIRLS
IN A ROW AND THEN DRINK A LITRE OF WHISKY AND THEN GO OUT AND KILL SOME MORE
FUCKING ALIENS FUCK YEAH! Christ, what a tedious game.

All online games - Okay, that's not fair. I played WoW, a lot. But I mainly
played it as a single player game, so it doesn't count. Anyway, John Gabriel's
Greater Internet Fuckwad theory is why online games suck.

All GTA games since 3 - Fun for about 15 minutes until the novelty of running
people over and punching them in the face wears off, and then they're just
boring.

Okami - It's just Zelda. With a dog.

Chris
-- 
Gamertag: parm                               * BRING BACK BLUE SKY IN GAMES *

  "Back when I was young, we had to travel back in time to put the tape in so
the game would load before we died."

Zomoniac wrote:
> On 2008-09-02 10:45:36 +0100, Gunther Gloop 
>  said:
> 
>> Zomoniac wrote:
>>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a 
>>> chance to bitch :)
>>>
>>
>> It's not a (single) game, but the following get my votes:
>>
>> 1. XBLA (360).
>> The average XBLA game is comparable to any number of free Flash games 
>> on pc. Interest in them lasts for about as long as it takes to get 
>> through the demo. The games mostly die a quick death after you unlock 
>> "the rest".
>> The idea is ok in itself, but the whole scene is swarmed by titles 
>> that have "get rich quick -gimme money now" written all over them. 
>> (and I am aware they are unlikely to make their creators rich. Doesn't 
>> stop them trying. None too hard.)
> 
> Has the last month (Braid, GeoWars 2, Castle Crashers, BC: Rearmed, 
> Galaga Legions etc) done nothing to swing your opinion? Six weeks ago 
> I'd have agreed with you, but things are improving at an alarming rate.
> 

They're better than most previous efforts, granted. Nothing to my 
tastes, but that's not really something I can fault them on.


>> 3. Annual games releases (all formats)
>> Nuff said.
> 
> Didn't you just buy Tiger Woods?
> 

Heh heh.
"Yes, but it didn't arrive yet, gov, honest."

Anyway, it's not like I buy that or any other game annually. It's been 4 
years since my last PGA Tour. That's room enough to try out for some 
more golf I think.
Of course some people might be holding out for next year's effort and I 
can understand how EA want to make sure there's a "new golf/ football/ 
pro-sneaker game out" whenever anyone is looking to check the latest 
developments, but it's got to the stage where some witty poor things no 
longer know a new game from a £40 bug fix.

;)

  -Kevin.

On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac
 wrote:

can't be bothered arguing with you Zo, as aside from Bioshock you're
basically just WRONG as usual.

anyway, here's mine:

1. Geometry Wars RE - sorry guys, but it's just a twin stick shooter
with flashy graphics that is stupidly hard. It isn't awful, but it
isn't great, it's just ridiculously overrated.

2. World of Warcraft - i tried, for about 3 months, to get into this,
and just couldn't. MMORPGs are just too unwelcoming for the unitiated,
which i was, and i just felt clueless and received little help from
other players in the world/server i was on, mainly just mockery for
being a 'n00b'. (tbh, you could put any MMORPG here)

3. Oundan/Elite Beat Heroes - Shit Music, crap gameplay. I know a lot
of you here adore it, and i'll give it marks for good presentation,
but in the end it's just tapping the screen along to some godawful
music.

4. Metal Gear Solid 2 (and subsequent sequels) - The original was, and
is a masterpiece. The sequels, however, despite starting off
exceptional soon begin to disappear up both their own, and hideo
kojima's backsides. Most convoluted, ridiculous and frankly tedious
after a while. A shame really, because it all started so well.

5.Gran Turismo 1/2/3/4/5 - If beige could be a driving game, it would
be Gran Turismo. Forza isn't far behind either.
-- 

http://bykerblog.wordpress.com/ - My thrilling new blog
XBL Tag: Chrisflynnuk

In article , 
chris@asifimtellingyoulot.com says...

> 2. World of Warcraft - i tried, for about 3 months, to get into this,
> and just couldn't. MMORPGs are just too unwelcoming for the unitiated,
> which i was, and i just felt clueless and received little help from
> other players in the world/server i was on, mainly just mockery for
> being a 'n00b'. (tbh, you could put any MMORPG here)
 
People are definitely a huge factor in how much you enjoy a MMORPG.

Dark Age Of Camelot was my first MMORPG and I quit several times early 
on into playing it because I didn't have many friends in the game. 
Thankfully the right guild came along, thanks to finding out that a 
person I knew from another corner of the internet I inhabited (#afp on 
irc.lspace.org) was also playing the game and got me into his guild.

From then on, the game took on a new dimension and I stayed playing DAOC 
with only a few short breaks for the best part of five years.

-- 
WFC: 3806 6029 8649 8813
XBLA/PSN/Steam: merseymal
Xfire/Quake Wars: malkomm
WAR Beta: Byrokthik the Squig Herder

In article , 
spampit@btinternet.com says...
> 
> From then on, the game took on a new dimension and I stayed playing DAOC 
> with only a few short breaks for the best part of five years.

Thankfully a large-ish number of Covenant Of Zak, our former DAOC 
guild's membership will be joining me in Warhammer soon, as well as our 
friendly former DAOC alliance guilds Humberton Guard and Knights Of 
Pendragon.


-- 
WFC: 3806 6029 8649 8813
XBLA/PSN/Steam: merseymal
Xfire/Quake Wars: malkomm
WAR Beta: Byrokthik the Squig Herder

Gunther Gloop wrote:
>>> 3. Annual games releases (all formats)
>>
> I can understand how EA want to make sure there's a "new golf/
> football/ pro-sneaker game out" whenever anyone is looking to check
> the latest developments, but it's got to the stage where some witty
> poor things no longer know a new game from a £40 bug fix.
>
> ;)

Hey! That's mean. :p

I take your point about the actual amount of 'new game' that is contained in 
each incremental upgrade, but the thing is (for me at least) there's so much 
in the TW games that I enjoy doing that I *easily* get my money's worth from 
them, even if a lot of the content is the same as in previous years just 
wrapped up a slightly different way. Yes, I could just keep starting a new 
save in TW07 every year, and save myself 40 quid, but the new courses, 
online features (Gamernet was a *huge* addition in 08, and has improved 
markedly in 09) and tweaks to the gameplay are enough to make it worthwhile 
for me. I certainly wouldn't try to convince anyone else that they should 
buy TW *every* year, and as it happens I think most people skipped 08 and 
have come back again this year from what I can see. For me, though, as an 
avid video game golfer it's pretty much a given that I'll get the new update 
every year without fail. I'm just glad that there isn't a competing series 
that I have to buy anually as well.

-- 

Chris

GT: SomethingWitty

In article ,
Zomoniac   wrote:
>I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>to bitch :)

I don't know if I can participate this week. I've worked into my game 
buying and playing habits a healthy disdain for hype. The more a game is 
extolled in the press, the more likely I am to pass it over until the 
Greatest Hits copy can be found on the endcap for $15. By that point, the 
market has developed a consensus that overrules the reviews. Therefore, by 
my metric there's no such thing as an overrated game. :)

It doesn't help that I'm able to see good design and good intent in games 
that I don't otherwise enjoy. By way of example, I recognise all the 
things that divide a good effort and a great effort in an FPS, but I'll 
not likely play one far enough to develop a valid opinion on it. I can't 
consider such a game overrated if I haven't rated it myself to compare.

-KKC, who has no business bringing logic and moderation to Usenet.
-- 
-- A class action lawsuit has been settled against   | kendrick @
 Paypal for $3.5 million. Read the full notification |   io . com
 at http://www.steelesettlement.com/ and see if you  | 
 are eligible for class membership and payment.      | http://www.io.com/~kkc

Zomoniac wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)
> 
> 
1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish and 
unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up until 
then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating characters. 
And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles every twenty 
yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.


2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to play 
games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong who 
thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from making your 
character move with all the grace and athleticism of a furball in a 
velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I feel like I'm being 
steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path that I'm constantly 
questioning, which ruins any slender chance of immersion I may have. It 
basically becomes irritating.

See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it still 
failed to keep me playing much past the second island.

3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't 
actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to play. 
I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the princess 
as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita to haul 
around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.

4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't get, 
at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a couple 
of hours in.

5. Most sport games. Football in particular

DBSnappa wrote:

> 1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish
> and unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up
> until then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating
> characters. And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles
> every twenty yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.
> 
> 
> 2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to
> play games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong
> who thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from
> making your character move with all the grace and athleticism of a
> furball in a velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I
> feel like I'm being steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path
> that I'm constantly questioning, which ruins any slender chance of
> immersion I may have. It basically becomes irritating.
> 
> See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it
> still failed to keep me playing much past the second island.
> 
> 3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't
> actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to
> play. I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the
> princess as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita
> to haul around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.
> 
> 4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't
> get, at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a
> couple of hours in.
> 
> 5. Most sport games. Football in particular

You've managed to spew hate on nmost of the game genres I like (except
for sports games);-)
I cannot help but wonder if you enjoy ANY games at all.

-- 
qt

Zomoniac wrote:
> 4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
> I tried to get into this for around 5 hours before just giving up 
> completely. What is the point of making a world so big if 99% of it is 
> uninhabited, and only 0.1% was actually designed, the rest just pasted 
> from that. I'm all for games breaking away from the corridor shooter and 
> out into the open, but this took it too far, with vast, epic worlds to 
> play in where there was nothing at all to play with, apart from running 
> into a wolf every five minutes. The very definition of tedium.

Must disagree on this one. I used to rush home from work just to play 
this, and not many games have that effect on me. I must have put easily 
150 hours into it (in fact, didn't I buy your copy when mine wore out?)

> 
> 1. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)
> Again, not a bad game as such. Just very bland. I've tried very hard to 
> 'get it', but it seems devoid of charm, and feels tediously formulaic, 
> with no story, dull characters and average gameplay. It was very pretty 
> at the time (albeit with a draw distance of about 20 feet), but it just 
> bored me to hell.
> 

No Story? Devoid of charm? Average gameplay? That can't be right! So 
wrong Zo.

My top five:

Any Sonic Game from the 16bit era. What was the point of these? Push 
right. Jump. Push right. Keep pushing right. End

The Sims. Computerised dolls house. Should not be consistently in the 
top sellers list, but it is.

FFIIV. Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah. Random Battle. Blah Blah Blah. 
Woe is me. Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah. Random Battle. Random Battle. 
Random Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. Random 
Battle. Boss Battle. Save point. Repeat for the rest of your life.

Super Mario Sunshine. I loved Super Mario 1 & 3. Thought SM World was 
amazing. Played Mario 64 to completion and bought my Gamecube for this 
piece of shit. The gameplay was just wrong, the something that the 
previous mario games just felt missing. Just glad it was found again in 
Galaxy.

Viva Pinata. I just got sick of doing the same mini game over and over. 
TBH this game just got tedious too quickly for me, so I sold it within a 
week of opening it.


-- 
Gamertag: Hakk
R Tape loading error, 0:1

QT wrote:
> DBSnappa wrote:
> 
>> 1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish
>> and unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up
>> until then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating
>> characters. And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles
>> every twenty yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.
>>
>>
>> 2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to
>> play games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong
>> who thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from
>> making your character move with all the grace and athleticism of a
>> furball in a velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I
>> feel like I'm being steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path
>> that I'm constantly questioning, which ruins any slender chance of
>> immersion I may have. It basically becomes irritating.
>>
>> See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it
>> still failed to keep me playing much past the second island.
>>
>> 3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't
>> actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to
>> play. I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the
>> princess as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita
>> to haul around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.
>>
>> 4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't
>> get, at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a
>> couple of hours in.
>>
>> 5. Most sport games. Football in particular
> 
> You've managed to spew hate on nmost of the game genres I like (except
> for sports games);-)
> I cannot help but wonder if you enjoy ANY games at all.
> 
I do, but I think you can safely surmise I wouldn't be a concern for 
loaners, true ;)

On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac
 wrote:

>I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>to bitch :)
>

Anything by M$ :)

Hakk wrote:
> 
> Super Mario Sunshine. I loved Super Mario 1 & 3. Thought SM World was 
> amazing. Played Mario 64 to completion and bought my Gamecube for this 
> piece of shit. The gameplay was just wrong, the something that the 
> previous mario games just felt missing. Just glad it was found again in 
> Galaxy.
> 
I was going to put this in as well, it was missing the magic ingredient, 
wasn't it.

On 2008-09-02 12:45:49 +0100, Hakk  said:

> Zomoniac wrote:
>> 4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
>> I tried to get into this for around 5 hours before just giving up 
>> completely. What is the point of making a world so big if 99% of it is 
>> uninhabited, and only 0.1% was actually designed, the rest just pasted 
>> from that. I'm all for games breaking away from the corridor shooter 
>> and out into the open, but this took it too far, with vast, epic worlds 
>> to play in where there was nothing at all to play with, apart from 
>> running into a wolf every five minutes. The very definition of tedium.
> 
> Must disagree on this one. I used to rush home from work just to play 
> this, and not many games have that effect on me. I must have put easily 
> 150 hours into it (in fact, didn't I buy your copy when mine wore out?)

You did. That was the second copy I bought, desperate to get what it 
was that made it so brilliant. I couldn't.

>> 1. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)
>> Again, not a bad game as such. Just very bland. I've tried very hard to 
>> 'get it', but it seems devoid of charm, and feels tediously formulaic, 
>> with no story, dull characters and average gameplay. It was very pretty 
>> at the time (albeit with a draw distance of about 20 feet), but it just 
>> bored me to hell.
>> 
> 
> No Story? Devoid of charm? Average gameplay? That can't be right! So wrong Zo.

I don't mind cutey games (SMG > ALL (or most)) but this was just so 
twee that it felt like the Teletubbies game. And what story? And yes, 
average gameplay, the combat was rubbish, jumping automatic, and that's 
all there is to it. The walking's quite good. I just don't get Zelda. 
Completely predictable and mediocre adventure games. But WW is so 
pretty I finished it and overlooked all the faults. Even the shard 
collecting bit at the end that made me want to kill people (I would've 
killed someone if I didn't have a guide and a teleporting frog).

> My top five:
> 
> Any Sonic Game from the 16bit era. What was the point of these? Push 
> right. Jump. Push right. Keep pushing right. End

Which is different from any 2D Mario game how? The difference being 
that Sonic is faster, prettier, more varied and in every way better. So 
there.

> The Sims. Computerised dolls house. Should not be consistently in the 
> top sellers list, but it is.

Have you played it much? I don't think it's particularly 'rated', but 
it is addictive as fuck.

> FFIIV. Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah. Random Battle. Blah Blah Blah. 
> Woe is me. Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah. Random Battle. Random 
> Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. 
> Random Battle. Boss Battle. Save point. Repeat for the rest of your 
> life.

Agree 100%

> Super Mario Sunshine. I loved Super Mario 1 & 3. Thought SM World was amazing.

WRONG.

> Played Mario 64 to completion and bought my Gamecube for this piece of 
> shit. The gameplay was just wrong, the something that the previous 
> mario games just felt missing. Just glad it was found again in Galaxy.

RIGHT.

> Viva Pinata. I just got sick of doing the same mini game over and over. 
> TBH this game just got tedious too quickly for me, so I sold it within 
> a week of opening it.

WRONG.

-- 

Zo

On 2008-09-02 14:05:41 +0100, Lister  said:

> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac
>  wrote:
> 
>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>> to bitch :)
>> 
> 
> Anything by M$ :)

How mature.

-- 

Zo

On 2008-09-02 14:09:31 +0100, DBSnappa 
 said:

> Hakk wrote:
>> 
>> Super Mario Sunshine. I loved Super Mario 1 & 3. Thought SM World was 
>> amazing. Played Mario 64 to completion and bought my Gamecube for this 
>> piece of shit. The gameplay was just wrong, the something that the 
>> previous mario games just felt missing. Just glad it was found again in 
>> Galaxy.
>> 
> I was going to put this in as well, it was missing the magic 
> ingredient, wasn't it.

I didn't put it in on the grounds that I think most people don't rate 
it. I didn't despise it, I'd have probably give it a 6, but I don't 
think that's much below general consensus.

-- 

Zo

Zomoniac wrote:
> On 2008-09-02 12:45:49 +0100, Hakk  said:
> 
>> Zomoniac wrote:
>>> 4. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
>>> I tried to get into this for around 5 hours before just giving up 
>>> completely. What is the point of making a world so big if 99% of it 
>>> is uninhabited, and only 0.1% was actually designed, the rest just 
>>> pasted from that. I'm all for games breaking away from the corridor 
>>> shooter and out into the open, but this took it too far, with vast, 
>>> epic worlds to play in where there was nothing at all to play with, 
>>> apart from running into a wolf every five minutes. The very 
>>> definition of tedium.
>>
>> Must disagree on this one. I used to rush home from work just to play 
>> this, and not many games have that effect on me. I must have put 
>> easily 150 hours into it (in fact, didn't I buy your copy when mine 
>> wore out?)
> 
> You did. That was the second copy I bought, desperate to get what it was 
> that made it so brilliant. I couldn't.
> 
>>> 1. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)
>>> Again, not a bad game as such. Just very bland. I've tried very hard 
>>> to 'get it', but it seems devoid of charm, and feels tediously 
>>> formulaic, with no story, dull characters and average gameplay. It 
>>> was very pretty at the time (albeit with a draw distance of about 20 
>>> feet), but it just bored me to hell.
>>>
>>
>> No Story? Devoid of charm? Average gameplay? That can't be right! So 
>> wrong Zo.
> 
> I don't mind cutey games (SMG > ALL (or most)) but this was just so twee 
> that it felt like the Teletubbies game. And what story? And yes, average 
> gameplay, the combat was rubbish, jumping automatic, and that's all 
> there is to it. The walking's quite good. I just don't get Zelda. 
> Completely predictable and mediocre adventure games. But WW is so pretty 
> I finished it and overlooked all the faults. Even the shard collecting 
> bit at the end that made me want to kill people (I would've killed 
> someone if I didn't have a guide and a teleporting frog).
> 
The combat worked perfectly with the N64 controller, you could do a few 
different attacks and each one could be done deliberately - not just 
thrashing the buttons, you could dodge easily, you could even do a 
backward somersault to get out of trouble. How was it rubbish?

WW OTOH, I gave up with due to the sailing. Couldn't be arsed with that, 
which is a shame because when I wasn't sailing I liked it.

>> My top five:
>>
>> Any Sonic Game from the 16bit era. What was the point of these? Push 
>> right. Jump. Push right. Keep pushing right. End
> 
> Which is different from any 2D Mario game how? The difference being that 
> Sonic is faster, prettier, more varied and in every way better. So there.
> 

SMB 3 is about infinitely times better than the Sonic games, and has 
buckets of variations in the levels. And you can go left sometimes.

>> The Sims. Computerised dolls house. Should not be consistently in the 
>> top sellers list, but it is.
> 
> Have you played it much? I don't think it's particularly 'rated', but it 
> is addictive as fuck.

My daughter takes up a lot of PC time by playing this. With all the 
cheats on so she doesn't have to do any actual game, and just decorates 
the houses.

> 
>> FFIIV. Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah. Random Battle. Blah Blah Blah. 
>> Woe is me. Blah Blah Blah. Blah Blah Blah. Random Battle. Random 
>> Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. Random Battle. 
>> Random Battle. Boss Battle. Save point. Repeat for the rest of your life.
> 
> Agree 100%
> 
>> Super Mario Sunshine. I loved Super Mario 1 & 3. Thought SM World was 
>> amazing.
> 
> WRONG.
> 
>> Played Mario 64 to completion and bought my Gamecube for this piece of 
>> shit. The gameplay was just wrong, the something that the previous 
>> mario games just felt missing. Just glad it was found again in Galaxy.
> 
> RIGHT.
> 
>> Viva Pinata. I just got sick of doing the same mini game over and 
>> over. TBH this game just got tedious too quickly for me, so I sold it 
>> within a week of opening it.
> 
> WRONG.
> 
See your thoughts on Oblivion, and your desperation to see what made it 
brilliant? That's me with Viva Pinata. I did try.

-- 
Gamertag: Hakk
R Tape loading error, 0:1

On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:31:56 +0000 (UTC), "QT"
 wrote:

>DBSnappa wrote:
>
>> 1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish
>> and unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up
>> until then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating
>> characters. And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles
>> every twenty yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.
>> 
>> 
>> 2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to
>> play games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong
>> who thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from
>> making your character move with all the grace and athleticism of a
>> furball in a velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I
>> feel like I'm being steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path
>> that I'm constantly questioning, which ruins any slender chance of
>> immersion I may have. It basically becomes irritating.
>> 
>> See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it
>> still failed to keep me playing much past the second island.
>> 
>> 3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't
>> actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to
>> play. I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the
>> princess as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita
>> to haul around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.
>> 
>> 4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't
>> get, at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a
>> couple of hours in.
>> 
>> 5. Most sport games. Football in particular
>
>You've managed to spew hate on nmost of the game genres I like (except
>for sports games);-)
>I cannot help but wonder if you enjoy ANY games at all.

i bet he loves Pokemon Snap.
-- 

http://bykerblog.wordpress.com/ - My thrilling new blog
XBL Tag: Chrisflynnuk

In article <xOqdnVkNvqIr1yDVnZ2dnUVZ8qvinZ2d@posted.metronet>,
Hakk   wrote:
>Zomoniac wrote:
>> On 2008-09-02 12:45:49 +0100, Hakk  said:
>> 
>>> Any Sonic Game from the 16bit era. What was the point of these? Push 
>>> right. Jump. Push right. Keep pushing right. End
>> 
>> Which is different from any 2D Mario game how? The difference being that 
>> Sonic is faster, prettier, more varied and in every way better. So there.
>
>SMB 3 is about infinitely times better than the Sonic games, and has 
>buckets of variations in the levels. And you can go left sometimes.

You can go left in every other 2D Sonic game. In fact, in Sonic 3 and 
Sonic CD you're frequently forced to go left in order to unlock some of 
the secrets or to get enough rings to get into the special stage at the 
end. If you're not trying to collect all the Chaos Emeralds and open up 
the real ending, then ur doin it rong. :)

I disagree with the overall categorisation of Sonic as a pointless game. 
It differs from Mario in that Nintendo's mascot gives you a breadth of 
experience, whereas Sonic goes for depth in place of it. Mario lets you do 
a lot of things, but Sonic lets you do one thing really, really well. Just 
by watching, you can tell the difference between an expert Sonic player 
and one who has never seen the game before, whereas watching a Mario 
session isn't nearly as revealing.

-KKC, listening to the SFIII soundtrack at work.
-- 
-- A class action lawsuit has been settled against   | kendrick @
 Paypal for $3.5 million. Read the full notification |   io . com
 at http://www.steelesettlement.com/ and see if you  | 
 are eligible for class membership and payment.      | http://www.io.com/~kkc

Zomoniac wrote:

> 2. Super Mario World (SNES)
> For me a platformer needs two thing: good gameplay and good level 
> design. SMW's levels are very dull and the gameplay is annoying. Had 
> this come out when SMB did then maybe I'd get the hype. That this came 
> out after Sonic despite being visually vastly inferior, playing far 
> worse and having level design several light years behind leaves me 
> utterly perplexed as to what the deal is.

Never!!! This game was brilliant...up there with the best mario games!

Chris Stevens wrote:
> Gunther Gloop wrote:
>>>> 3. Annual games releases (all formats)
>> I can understand how EA want to make sure there's a "new golf/
>> football/ pro-sneaker game out" whenever anyone is looking to check
>> the latest developments, but it's got to the stage where some witty
>> poor things no longer know a new game from a £40 bug fix.
>>
>> ;)
> 
> Hey! That's mean. :p
> 
> I take your point about the actual amount of 'new game' that is contained in 
> each incremental upgrade, but the thing is (for me at least) there's so much 
> in the TW games that I enjoy doing that I *easily* get my money's worth from 
> them, even if a lot of the content is the same as in previous years just 
> wrapped up a slightly different way. Yes, I could just keep starting a new 
> save in TW07 every year, and save myself 40 quid, but the new courses, 
> online features (Gamernet was a *huge* addition in 08, and has improved 
> markedly in 09) and tweaks to the gameplay are enough to make it worthwhile 
> for me. I certainly wouldn't try to convince anyone else that they should 
> buy TW *every* year, and as it happens I think most people skipped 08 and 
> have come back again this year from what I can see. For me, though, as an 
> avid video game golfer it's pretty much a given that I'll get the new update 
> every year without fail. I'm just glad that there isn't a competing series 
> that I have to buy anually as well.
> 

Don't worry about it. I'm just jealous cos mine hasn't arrived yet.
Probably.

;)

  -Kevin.

On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 14:11:09 +0100, Zomoniac
 wrote:

>On 2008-09-02 14:05:41 +0100, Lister  said:
>
>> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac
>>  wrote:
>> 
>>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>>> to bitch :)
>>> 
>> 
>> Anything by M$ :)
>
>How mature.


Yeah, I know.

Chris F wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:31:56 +0000 (UTC), "QT"
>  wrote:
> 
>> DBSnappa wrote:
>>
>>> 1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish
>>> and unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up
>>> until then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating
>>> characters. And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles
>>> every twenty yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.
>>>
>>>
>>> 2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to
>>> play games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong
>>> who thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from
>>> making your character move with all the grace and athleticism of a
>>> furball in a velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I
>>> feel like I'm being steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path
>>> that I'm constantly questioning, which ruins any slender chance of
>>> immersion I may have. It basically becomes irritating.
>>>
>>> See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it
>>> still failed to keep me playing much past the second island.
>>>
>>> 3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't
>>> actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to
>>> play. I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the
>>> princess as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita
>>> to haul around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.
>>>
>>> 4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't
>>> get, at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a
>>> couple of hours in.
>>>
>>> 5. Most sport games. Football in particular
>> You've managed to spew hate on nmost of the game genres I like (except
>> for sports games);-)
>> I cannot help but wonder if you enjoy ANY games at all.
> 
> i bet he loves Pokemon Snap.

could be worse, I could actually like FFVII :p

Zomoniac wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
> to bitch :)

I actually find this quite difficult. Strangely, prior to this generation, 
there haven't been too many high profile games that disappointed me. I guess 
that Shenmue is probably the closest, in that whilst I could appreciate its 
quality, I never really progressed very far through the game and so don't 
have the same beautiful memories as everyone else.
In a way, that probably sums up my experiences with the games listed below 
as well. I wouldn't say that I couldn't see what the fuss is about, but they 
simply didn't engage me in the same way as a lot of supposedly inferior 
games did. I could see *why* people liked them, but they just failed to push 
my buttons.

1. Gears of War - Technically astonishing, but I simply couldn't enjoy 
playing it. Maybe I could have persevered a bit longer, but the cover system 
especially just rubbed me up the wrong way. Everyone told me that it was the 
second coming, and that online play had knocked Halo2 off it's perch as the 
best online console game ever. I simply didn't get on with the single player 
game, and online was just horrible - all the bad things about H2 (overly 
competitive, squeaky, sweary American teens with major attitude problems, 
for a start) without any of the joy. Not for me.

2. Oblivion - What Zo said. Vast, impressive, and the possibilities such an 
expansive game world offered made me feel all the more disappointed that I 
wasn't enjoying myself. Gave up on it within about 8 hours.

3. Wii Sports - Right, before you lynch me, listen to what I have to say. I 
*loved* Wii Sports when I first played it. I'm sure I still would have a lot 
of fun with it if I played it with friends. It's the perfect introduction to 
the Wii, and for weeks on end I played very little else. However, and this 
is where I diverge from popular opinion, there is simply not enough 
substance to it to keep playing it consistently, or even in my opinion 
returning to it occasionally beyond those first few giddy weeks. I can't 
understand the fun that people are deriving from it almost 2 years on. Fun 
as it was, are you *really* enjoying playing Tennis and Bowling on a daily 
basis? No disrespect, obviously, I just can't see it.

4. Bioshock - Oooh, pretty. Ooooh, atmospheric. Oooooh, shame they forgot to 
put a game in there that was worthy of the setting.

5. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Muddy and brown and ugly compared to 
Windwaker. Astonishingly, I think that's all that put me off it. The waggle 
controls felt a touch 'tacked on', but I reckon that had it been the same 
game skinned in WW-esque primary-coloured beauty, I'd have loved it just as 
much as its predecessor, and almost certainly played more than the pitiful 
effort I actually managed.

-- 

Chris

GT: SomethingWitty

On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:01:59 +0100, DBSnappa
 wrote:

>Chris F wrote:
>> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:31:56 +0000 (UTC), "QT"
>>  wrote:
>> 
>>> DBSnappa wrote:
>>>
>>>> 1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish
>>>> and unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up
>>>> until then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating
>>>> characters. And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles
>>>> every twenty yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to
>>>> play games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong
>>>> who thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from
>>>> making your character move with all the grace and athleticism of a
>>>> furball in a velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I
>>>> feel like I'm being steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path
>>>> that I'm constantly questioning, which ruins any slender chance of
>>>> immersion I may have. It basically becomes irritating.
>>>>
>>>> See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it
>>>> still failed to keep me playing much past the second island.
>>>>
>>>> 3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't
>>>> actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to
>>>> play. I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the
>>>> princess as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita
>>>> to haul around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.
>>>>
>>>> 4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't
>>>> get, at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a
>>>> couple of hours in.
>>>>
>>>> 5. Most sport games. Football in particular
>>> You've managed to spew hate on nmost of the game genres I like (except
>>> for sports games);-)
>>> I cannot help but wonder if you enjoy ANY games at all.
>> 
>> i bet he loves Pokemon Snap.
>
>could be worse, I could actually like FFVII :p

on a wholly unrelated, but camera-based game related note, i remember
working in Game, when some bloke came in and asked one of the new
girls;

"Have you got that game where you go around taking pictures of little
girls?"

She almost hit him and told him to get out of the shop, until one of
the lads who had worked there longer and knew the guy (who, to put it
kindly, wasn't all there) pointed out he was meaning Project Zero....
-- 

http://bykerblog.wordpress.com/ - My thrilling new blog
XBL Tag: Chrisflynnuk

On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:50:46 +0100, Rach 
wrote:

>Zomoniac wrote:
>
>> 2. Super Mario World (SNES)
>> For me a platformer needs two thing: good gameplay and good level 
>> design. SMW's levels are very dull and the gameplay is annoying. Had 
>> this come out when SMB did then maybe I'd get the hype. That this came 
>> out after Sonic despite being visually vastly inferior, playing far 
>> worse and having level design several light years behind leaves me 
>> utterly perplexed as to what the deal is.
>
>Never!!! This game was brilliant...up there with the best mario games!


Agreement=100% :)

Kendrick Kerwin Chua wrote:
> In article <xOqdnVkNvqIr1yDVnZ2dnUVZ8qvinZ2d@posted.metronet>,
> Hakk   wrote:
>> Zomoniac wrote:
>>> On 2008-09-02 12:45:49 +0100, Hakk  said:
>>>
>>>> Any Sonic Game from the 16bit era. What was the point of these? Push 
>>>> right. Jump. Push right. Keep pushing right. End
>>> Which is different from any 2D Mario game how? The difference being that 
>>> Sonic is faster, prettier, more varied and in every way better. So there.
>> SMB 3 is about infinitely times better than the Sonic games, and has 
>> buckets of variations in the levels. And you can go left sometimes.
> 
> You can go left in every other 2D Sonic game. In fact, in Sonic 3 and 
> Sonic CD you're frequently forced to go left in order to unlock some of 
> the secrets or to get enough rings to get into the special stage at the 
> end. If you're not trying to collect all the Chaos Emeralds and open up 
> the real ending, then ur doin it rong. :)
> 
> I disagree with the overall categorisation of Sonic as a pointless game. 
> It differs from Mario in that Nintendo's mascot gives you a breadth of 
> experience, whereas Sonic goes for depth in place of it. Mario lets you do 
> a lot of things, but Sonic lets you do one thing really, really well. Just 
> by watching, you can tell the difference between an expert Sonic player 
> and one who has never seen the game before, whereas watching a Mario 
> session isn't nearly as revealing.
> 
> -KKC, listening to the SFIII soundtrack at work.

As I only had Nintendo stuff when I was younger, I never really had the 
benefit of playing Sonic that much. So maybe I have got it wrong, but 
going off the limited impressions and the dozens or so goes I have had 
of the games sadly I must still leave it in my list of 5.

If I had seen an 'expert' play it properly, then maybe it might have 
been different.

Hakk

Zomoniac wrote:

<snip biggest pile of wrong ever>

WTF

deKay
-- 
  Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
  Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
  Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog
  My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

Zomoniac wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)
> 

Its very odd seeing som many of my favourite computer game series' 
getting absolutely lambasted in this forum. I know its all opinion, but 
even so, it hurts a little, or people are trampling on my memories :'(

So, first I'm going to give a defence to a few games:

1, Zelda Ocarina of Time: One of the best games ever released. No the 
storyline isn't going to win awards, but everything else will. A 
lovingly crafted world, gameplay and music combined into a shining 
example of the 64 bit era.

2, Resident Evil 4: Immensible playable and engrossing, with an 
atmosphere you could cut with a knife. What I will say is that the 
resident evil games have not aged well at all, the only one before Resi4 
that IMO stands the test of time is Resi3, largely for its mercenary mode.

3, Bioshock: A lot of people seem to be critising games because of 
gameplay limitations. Fair enough, but are Bioshocks SO bad that you 
think its a terrible game? In 10 years time, I will have forgotten many 
of the games last year. I will not have forgotten the experience 
Bioshock has left with me. A top notch story and atmosphere, combined 
with compelling gameplay. I'll stop myself here before going on a 5 page 
rant...

4, XBLA: Anything which allows me to replay games such as Speedball 2, 
SWOS, and Time Pilot, and allows me to experience fantastic original 
content (Braid, Aces of the Galaxy, Pinball FX), all online with 
leaderboards, is a winner by me.

5, Final Fantasy VII: I've tried writing a few things to defend FF VII, 
but, tbh, I'm not going to be changing anyone's opinion. Simply facts 
are these: It has one of the best soundtracks to any game I've ever 
played. It has one of the most moving storylines of any game I've 
played. There is more to the game than just random battles.

So to move onto my own list of Overrated games:

i, Fable: My goodness the hype that was generated for this game was 
crazy. Does anyone remember the promise that if you cut a tree in your 
childhood, that as you grew up the tree would grow along side you, and 
the mark would remain? Or that you could be a thief and break into 
peoples houses? Or that you could grow old, marry and have kids? None of 
these things made it into the game. By no means a bad RPG, but nothing 
like the hype.

ii, Black and White: If Black and White was just the preamble to a game, 
then it would have been great. However, there were only 5 levels, and 
again, completely failed to live up to its hype. I expected to be a God 
of a huge world, looking after my people, and attacking multiple enemies 
  ala Civilization. Instead I got a tamagotchi and a terrible city sim. 
A gorgeous game to look at, and the creature was fun for a while, but 
nothing like the substance required.

iii, GTA IV: For reasons stated elsewhere. Found it largely boring after 
the initial wow factor had worn off.

iv, Animal Crossing: I've tried to like this game. But there isn't 
really much of a game there. No storyline either. Or soundtrack. Plus I 
tend to feel a bit guilty if I'm writing a letter to a frog, rather than 
staying in contact with my real friends...

v, I can't think of a 5 at the moment. I would say MMORPGs, but I don't 
play them enough to know whether they are are overrated or not.

On 2008-09-02 19:07:32 +0100, CK  said:

> Zomoniac wrote:
>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>> to bitch :)
>> 
> 
> Its very odd seeing som many of my favourite computer game series' 
> getting absolutely lambasted in this forum. I know its all opinion, but 
> even so, it hurts a little, or people are trampling on my memories :'(
> 
> So, first I'm going to give a defence to a few games:
> 
> 1, Zelda Ocarina of Time: One of the best games ever released. No the 
> storyline isn't going to win awards, but everything else will. A 
> lovingly crafted world, gameplay and music combined into a shining 
> example of the 64 bit era.
> 
> 2, Resident Evil 4: Immensible playable and engrossing, with an 
> atmosphere you could cut with a knife. What I will say is that the 
> resident evil games have not aged well at all, the only one before 
> Resi4 that IMO stands the test of time is Resi3, largely for its 
> mercenary mode.
> 
> 3, Bioshock: A lot of people seem to be critising games because of 
> gameplay limitations. Fair enough, but are Bioshocks SO bad that you 
> think its a terrible game? In 10 years time, I will have forgotten many 
> of the games last year. I will not have forgotten the experience 
> Bioshock has left with me. A top notch story and atmosphere, combined 
> with compelling gameplay. I'll stop myself here before going on a 5 
> page rant...

I only finished it less than 6 months ago, I found it mostly 
forgettable. The gameplay when compared to either COD4 or Halo 3 
(single-player only) is just archaic. I'm quite sure the AI was 
programmed by a dog. Not good for an FPS.

-- 

Zo

CK wrote:

> i, Fable:
> ii, Black and White: 

I agree with these. Fable went downhill when it became a hide and seek 
simulator, and Black and White just seemed to actually lack any game 
elements at all.

deKay
-- 
  Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
  Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
  Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog
  My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

>>
>> 3, Bioshock: A lot of people seem to be critising games because of 
>> gameplay limitations. Fair enough, but are Bioshocks SO bad that you 
>> think its a terrible game? In 10 years time, I will have forgotten 
>> many of the games last year. I will not have forgotten the experience 
>> Bioshock has left with me. A top notch story and atmosphere, combined 
>> with compelling gameplay. I'll stop myself here before going on a 5 
>> page rant...
> 
> I only finished it less than 6 months ago, I found it mostly 
> forgettable. The gameplay when compared to either COD4 or Halo 3 
> (single-player only) is just archaic. I'm quite sure the AI was 
> programmed by a dog. Not good for an FPS.
> 

I can only assume that we look for completely different things in our 
gaming then Zo :)

Chris F wrote:
> On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:01:59 +0100, DBSnappa
>  wrote:
> 
>> Chris F wrote:
>>> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 11:31:56 +0000 (UTC), "QT"
>>>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> DBSnappa wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> 1. Final Fantasy VII. I found the characters irritatingly childish
>>>>> and unengaging. The story felt like every other RPG I'd played up
>>>>> until then, just much much much longer, with even more irritating
>>>>> characters. And then you get to the grinding tedium of random battles
>>>>> every twenty yards. An exercise in masochism if ever I saw one.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. RE I II III IV and all other iterations. I refuse point blank to
>>>>> play games where the haptic interface was designed by a fucking mong
>>>>> who thinks the difficulty and fear of the game should come from
>>>>> making your character move with all the grace and athleticism of a
>>>>> furball in a velcro factory. I think the problem I have is that I
>>>>> feel like I'm being steered in a contrived fashion along a silly path
>>>>> that I'm constantly questioning, which ruins any slender chance of
>>>>> immersion I may have. It basically becomes irritating.
>>>>>
>>>>> See also GTA VC and others, though I thought IV was much better it
>>>>> still failed to keep me playing much past the second island.
>>>>>
>>>>> 3. Ico. Never finished it. Have tried several times, but I don't
>>>>> actually like several things about it which ruin any compulsion to
>>>>> play. I don't actually like the way the game looks. I don't like the
>>>>> princess as I think the mechanic of having a useless pointless pita
>>>>> to haul around everywhere is irksome beyond belief.
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. God Of War. It isn't a terrible game, but it's something I don't
>>>>> get, at all. I've started it twice now and failed to get more than a
>>>>> couple of hours in.
>>>>>
>>>>> 5. Most sport games. Football in particular
>>>> You've managed to spew hate on nmost of the game genres I like (except
>>>> for sports games);-)
>>>> I cannot help but wonder if you enjoy ANY games at all.
>>> i bet he loves Pokemon Snap.
>> could be worse, I could actually like FFVII :p
> 
> on a wholly unrelated, but camera-based game related note, i remember
> working in Game, when some bloke came in and asked one of the new
> girls;
> 
> "Have you got that game where you go around taking pictures of little
> girls?"
> 
> She almost hit him and told him to get out of the shop, until one of
> the lads who had worked there longer and knew the guy (who, to put it
> kindly, wasn't all there) pointed out he was meaning Project Zero....  lol

On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac wrote:

> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)

1. Beyond Good and Evil

I was honestly expecting something really amazing after all the gushing,
but it turned out to be a relatively uninspiring Jak n Daxter clone with a
disjointed map.

2. Kameo

Crap.

3. Mass Effect

Roll Playing "My Arse!" - Boring and looked like a PS2 game for some
strange reason. Potentially interesting bits regarding exploration turned
out to be repetative crappy driving bits with repetative crappy shooting
bits.

Then you had the repetative crappy level bits.

Also the inventory system was piss-poor. Where are they getting these
designers? The pubs at closing time?

On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:41:22 +0100, deKay
<andyk@deleteme.lofi-gaming.nospam.org.uk.invalid> wrote:

>CK wrote:
>
>> i, Fable:
>> ii, Black and White: 
>
>I agree with these. Fable went downhill when it became a hide and seek 
>simulator, and Black and White just seemed to actually lack any game 
>elements at all.
>
>deKay

you know, for some reason i started playing B&W againa  couple of
months ago, realising i'd owned it for close to 7 years and never
really given it much of a go...

and then realised why.

i mean there's just not much to it at all, is there?
-- 

http://bykerblog.wordpress.com/ - My thrilling new blog
XBL Tag: Chrisflynnuk

Chris F wrote:

> i mean there's just not much to it at all, is there?

You slap monsters. I think that's all.

deKay
-- 
  Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
  Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
  Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog
  My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

richgk wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac wrote:
> 
>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
>> to bitch :)
> 
> 1. Beyond Good and Evil
> 
> I was honestly expecting something really amazing after all the gushing,
> but it turned out to be a relatively uninspiring Jak n Daxter clone with a
> disjointed map.
> 
> 2. Kameo
> 
> Crap.
> 
> 3. Mass Effect
> 
> Roll Playing "My Arse!" - Boring and looked like a PS2 game for some
> strange reason. Potentially interesting bits regarding exploration turned
> out to be repetative crappy driving bits with repetative crappy shooting
> bits.
> 
> Then you had the repetative crappy level bits.
> 
> Also the inventory system was piss-poor. Where are they getting these
> designers? The pubs at closing time?

Whilst I don't know where you get the PS2 game thing from at all, the 
rest I agree with. A car and gun based adventure where the gun combat is 
shit and the driving model is the worst ever designed by anyone ever (it 
made me long for Spirit Of Speed 1937 it was that bad) doesn't sound 
like a great recipe. Quite why it got the praise it did is beyond me.


-- 

Zo
Gamerscore whore and proud (and not very good at it)

CK wrote:
> 
>>>
>>> 3, Bioshock: A lot of people seem to be critising games because of 
>>> gameplay limitations. Fair enough, but are Bioshocks SO bad that you 
>>> think its a terrible game? In 10 years time, I will have forgotten 
>>> many of the games last year. I will not have forgotten the experience 
>>> Bioshock has left with me. A top notch story and atmosphere, combined 
>>> with compelling gameplay. I'll stop myself here before going on a 5 
>>> page rant...
>>
>> I only finished it less than 6 months ago, I found it mostly 
>> forgettable. The gameplay when compared to either COD4 or Halo 3 
>> (single-player only) is just archaic. I'm quite sure the AI was 
>> programmed by a dog. Not good for an FPS.
>>
> 
> I can only assume that we look for completely different things in our 
> gaming then Zo :)

Indeed. I find it especially odd that the same people who whined about 
the Flood levels because the enemies being hordes of brainless things 
that just ran at you was frustrating and dull are many of the same 
people gushing over Bioshock, which has enemies that make the Flood look 
like Einstein.


-- 

Zo
Gamerscore whore and proud (and not very good at it)

deKay wrote:
> Zomoniac wrote:
> 
> <snip biggest pile of wrong ever>
> 
> WTF

Sorry. I like variety and creativeness.


-- 

Zo
Gamerscore whore and proud (and not very good at it)

deKay wrote:
> CK wrote:
>
>> i, Fable:
>> ii, Black and White:
>
> I agree with these. Fable went downhill when it became a hide and seek
> simulator, and Black and White just seemed to actually lack any game
> elements at all.
>
> deKay

I don't think either of you actually played Fable did you?  Come on admit 
it!!!

I don't remember it being a hide and seek simulator.  I got married in the 
game, grew old and got arrested several times for breaking and entering.  It 
was pure genius which I couldn't put down.  If I ever remember enough games 
to create a top ten Fable will be in it.  As will Mass Effect which is also 
awesome.  Maybe this more action based take on the role playing genre is 
perfect for me.  Can't be doing with all this turn based stuff.  Sudeki is 
another similar style game and thats brilliant too.  KOTOR, not so good.

-- 

WCZ

"Chris Whitworth"  wrote in message 
news:slrngbq3pk.b90.usenet.chris@parm.vs.topper.me.uk...
> On 2008-09-02, Zomoniac  wrote:
>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
>> to bitch :)
>
> Okami - It's just Zelda. With a dog.
>


But not as fun.

Shak

Zomoniac wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance 
> to bitch :)
> 
> 

Let's see if I can think of five in no particular order...

1) Kameo - most disappointing release game ever? Truly dire.

2) GTAIV - this is never a 10/10 game. Maybe a 7. Some truly awful 
gameplay (e.g. friends and minigames) and online is mostly rubbish. Some 
brilliant bits too though.

3) Mass Effect - Just didn't grab me at all.

4) Resident Evil 1 - Bought a PS1 purely to play this pile of shit. My 
most hated game for that reason.

5) Oblivion - I've never been so bored with a game. A says get me/take B 
  from/to C and repeat. And those stupid gate things. Gah.

Soni tempori elseu romani yeof helsforo nisson ol sefini ill des Wed, 3 Sep
2008 08:27:48 +0100, sefini jorgo geanyet des mani yeof do
uk.games.video.misc, yawatina tan reek esk "WCZ" 
fornis do marikano es bono tan el:

>I don't think either of you actually played Fable did you?  Come on admit 
>it!!!

Yes, I did:
http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary/labels/fable.php

>I don't remember it being a hide and seek simulator.  

It was just one part, but it was an almost game-ruining part. It ruined The
Wind Waker. It ruined Beyond Good and Evil. I hate stealth sections.


deKay
-- 
 Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
 Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
 Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog     
 My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

Soni tempori elseu romani yeof helsforo nisson ol sefini ill des Wed, 03 Sep
2008 08:17:14 +0100, sefini jorgo geanyet des mani yeof do
uk.games.video.misc, yawatina tan reek esk Zomoniac
 fornis do marikano es bono tan el:

>deKay wrote:
>> Zomoniac wrote:
>> 
>> <snip biggest pile of wrong ever>
>> 
>> WTF
>
>Sorry. I like variety and creativeness.

So do I, which is why you're all wrongywrongwrong.

deKay
-- 
 Lofi Gaming - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk
 Gaming Diary - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/diary
 Blog - http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog     
 My computer runs at 3.5MHz and I'm proud of that

CK wrote:
>
> Its very odd seeing som many of my favourite computer game series'
> getting absolutely lambasted in this forum. I know its all opinion,
> but even so, it hurts a little, or people are trampling on my
> memories :'(
> So, first I'm going to give a defence to a few games:
>
> 3, Bioshock: A lot of people seem to be critising games because of
> gameplay limitations. Fair enough, but are Bioshocks SO bad that you
> think its a terrible game? In 10 years time, I will have forgotten
> many of the games last year. I will not have forgotten the experience
> Bioshock has left with me. A top notch story and atmosphere, combined
> with compelling gameplay. I'll stop myself here before going on a 5
> page rant...

I personally didn't think it was a *terrible* game. It was a disappointment, 
though, especially as the setting was so impressive, and the potential for a 
truly great game was there. For me, after the initial wow factor of the 
environment, I only lasted a few hours before finding the lack of variety in 
enemies and combat too much of a disincentive to carry on. As I say - not a 
terrible game, but not (from my point of view) worthy of the endless gushing 
praise that it got. After all, this is a thread about over-rated games, not 
outright awful games. :)

> 4, XBLA: Anything which allows me to replay games such as Speedball 2,
> SWOS, and Time Pilot, and allows me to experience fantastic original
> content (Braid, Aces of the Galaxy, Pinball FX), all online with
> leaderboards, is a winner by me.

Absolute agreement from me on this one. After a sticky year or so between 
the initial releases around launch and when the titles started to appear 
regularly (IIRC we went *months* without a single release during that time), 
things have picked up wonderfully and my top 10 360 games would probably 
include at least a couple of arcade titles.

> So to move onto my own list of Overrated games:
>
> i, Fable: My goodness the hype that was generated for this game was
> crazy. Does anyone remember the promise that if you cut a tree in your
> childhood, that as you grew up the tree would grow along side you, and
> the mark would remain? Or that you could be a thief and break into
> peoples houses? Or that you could grow old, marry and have kids? None
> of these things made it into the game. By no means a bad RPG, but
> nothing like the hype.

Always a problem with Molyneux games, that over-reaching ambition. Despite 
the game not quite matching his initial vision, though, I thought it was 
truly excellent. I'm sure I've posted previously about the heartbreaking 
tale of my unrequited love for the hairdresser (though, to be fair, that 
*was* a little bit of an immersion-breaker due to it being a limitation of 
the game), and there were just so many other memorable moments throughout 
the game. If you'd not seen or heard any of Molyneux's grand claims prior to 
playing it, and came to it with no expectations, it would have been 
considered (at least) a really, really good game, possibly even a great one.

-- 

Chris

GT: SomethingWitty

On Sep 2, 10:11 am, Zomoniac  wrote:
> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
> to bitch :)

1) Shenmue

Boring, boring and then boring. Nothing remotely interesting or
exciting happens. The “world” just a fake as any other and the tasks
are just rubbish. Feeding cats?! Why people like this game is beyond
me. At least it gave us that infamous saying, “I’m looking for
sailors”

2) Shenmue 2

See above, a bit better but still boring as hell.

3) GTA 4

For the reason listed. Not a bad game but so not a 10. Not much better
then GTA3.

4) Maple Story

Not rated by anyone here but massive in the free mmo space. After
downloading it, it was a genuine WTF is this piece of crap moment. You
have to spend the first ten levels auto attacking a mob for 1hp per
hit, taking minutes to kill. You only got a class as lvl 10 but it
didn’t tell you how to spec for each class, so I gimped myself. So, it
was case more auto attacking fun, buying a respec item for real money
or quit. I quit!!.

5) DAOC

Well not really but I can't think of a 5th and its revenge for Mal F
listing WoW!!

On Sep 2, 10:49 am, Mal F  wrote:
> In article ,
> the_proper_...@hotmail.com says...
>
> > I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
> > to bitch :)
>
> 1. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
>
> This perfectly sums it up.http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/75-Oblivion
>
> 2. World Of Warcraft
>
> It's an okay mmorpg, but I had a lot more fun playing Dark Age Of
> Camelot than this especially regarding PvP or rather RvR. What I've
> played of Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning in the beta so far is
> promising so I'll be not bothering with Wrath Of The Lich King expansion

No comment, see my response!

> 3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
>
> The need to eat and exercise was tedious. They only needed to add the
> need to go to the loo and it'd be the feckin Sims.
>
> 4. Halo
>
> Earlier part was ok and then it turned shit
>
> 5. Crysis
>
> Great but PC-killing graphics and very enjoyable until gur nyvraf
> fubjrq hc naq gura vg jrag penc yvxr Sne Pel qvq jura gur zhgnagf
> nccrnerq.

Is Crysis rated by anyone? Most over hyped and disappointing game,
yes. (Along with AoC) But not many people liked it in the end. I
thought it was an unremarkable FPS. (If you ignored the graphics)

This alien bit was silly and totally spoiled the feel of the game.

BombayMix wrote:
> On Sep 2, 10:49 am, Mal F  wrote:
>> In article ,
>> the_proper_...@hotmail.com says...
>>
>>> I'm bored, this should liven things up a bit, and give people a chance
>>> to bitch :)
>> 1. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
>>
>> This perfectly sums it up.http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/75-Oblivion
>>
>> 2. World Of Warcraft
>>
>> It's an okay mmorpg, but I had a lot more fun playing Dark Age Of
>> Camelot than this especially regarding PvP or rather RvR. What I've
>> played of Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning in the beta so far is
>> promising so I'll be not bothering with Wrath Of The Lich King expansion
> 
> No comment, see my response!
> 
>> 3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
>>
>> The need to eat and exercise was tedious. They only needed to add the
>> need to go to the loo and it'd be the feckin Sims.
>>
>> 4. Halo
>>
>> Earlier part was ok and then it turned shit
>>
>> 5. Crysis
>>
>> Great but PC-killing graphics and very enjoyable until gur nyvraf
>> fubjrq hc naq gura vg jrag penc yvxr Sne Pel qvq jura gur zhgnagf
>> nccrnerq.
> 
> Is Crysis rated by anyone? Most over hyped and disappointing game,
> yes. (Along with AoC) But not many people liked it in the end. I
> thought it was an unremarkable FPS. (If you ignored the graphics)
> 
> This alien bit was silly and totally spoiled the feel of the game.

Did anyone buy it for anything other than the graphics?



-- 

Zo
Gamerscore whore and proud (and not very good at it)

On Sep 2, 11:23 am, Chris F  wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:11:07 +0100, Zomoniac
>
>  wrote:
>
> can't be bothered arguing with you Zo, as aside from Bioshock you're
> basically just WRONG as usual.
>
> anyway, here's mine:
>
> 1. Geometry Wars RE - sorry guys, but it's just a twin stick shooter
> with flashy graphics that is stupidly hard. It isn't awful, but it
> isn't great, it's just ridiculously overrated.
>
> 2. World of Warcraft - i tried, for about 3 months, to get into this,
> and just couldn't. MMORPGs are just too unwelcoming for the unitiated,
> which i was, and i just felt clueless and received little help from
> other players in the world/server i was on, mainly just mockery for
> being a 'n00b'. (tbh, you could put any MMORPG here)

WoW actually far more welcoming and has fewer barriers then most mmos.
Big problem was you were too late. Helping some one once is ok, but
being constantly asked the same thing gets old and people stop
helping. Also, groups and clique form which can be hard to break
into.

Mmos are their best at launch, they are generally far more welcoming
and with no one knowing the ropes. So try WAR it going to be great
fun.

deK