Good Games For Christmas? 613
Since nothing really interesting seems to be happening today (unless you count some lame overpriced scooter) I figured I'd throw this out. We've discussed christmas presents in general, but what about refining the subject to just video games? With Final Fantasy 10 not due out until the day after christmas, what new games are coming out? Please mention systems in your subject line. Personally I just finished Klonoa 2 and enjoyed it, I'm maybe half way through Grand Theft Auto 3 and am absolutely in love, and just picked up Metal Gear Solid 2 but have yet to break the celophane, but can't wait. On the PC side, The Sims Hot Date expansion pack is pretty smooth if your idea of fun is micromanaging an armada of virtual people. I hope a psychiatrist never analyzes my Sims style.
PS2 : GTA3 (Score:3, Insightful)
New Games? (Score:2, Insightful)
Gift Certificate! (Score:5, Insightful)
Must admit, my xmas shopping skills are weak this year.
I always prefered gift cerificates anyways, else my mom will be me a copy of "Who wants to be a billionare (but not really), the video game. Whee, I just looove those gifts.
PLAYSTATION: Don't overlook cheap shit. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm picking up playstation games now that are only 1 year or less out of date and having a wicked time. Everyone knows what the best games are, so you're guaranteed to get something good, and they don't cost more than $20 usually. Here are my picks:
NHL 2001 [gamespot.com]
Driver (obviously) [gamespot.com]
Ape Escape (a crazy 3D platform game, amazing design) [gamespot.com]
Grand Turismo [gamespot.com]
If you're looking at getting laid off like me, you can pick up a playstation super cheap and get games galore for nothing. Look into it.
Dreamcast. (Score:5, Insightful)
Mame (Score:5, Insightful)
Think of it as the geek equivalent of hand-drawing your own greeting cards. Martha Stewart of Borg would be proud.
Super Monkey Ball and Pikmin (Gamecube) (Score:3, Insightful)
As for Monkey Ball, if you have a GCN, you need this game. Hell, if you are an avid gamer at all, you need this. Mega fun with 4 people, and quite addictive and enjoyable just by yourself or with your spouse. My fiance and I wasted all of Thanksgiving weekend on this one, and she doesn't even like games much.
Gamecube is a lot of fun, but unfortunately, it hasn't gotten much attention from store employees and media with Xbox's release. But don't let the lack of enthusiasm from sales monkeys deter you; GCN is a boatload of fun (not to mention you can pick up the console AND these 2 games for the cost of one of the other consoles alone!) What a value!
Depends on the system... (Score:2, Insightful)
Playstation 2
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Metal Gear Solid 2: Yes, it's as bad assed as it wants to be. The intro looks like something from Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer's wildest imaginations. The game itself is pretty dang fun even if I do keep getting confused on which button does what (play it, you'll see what I mean). I want to play this game some more, but there's so much more to see!
NFL 2K2: This game is hands down the best looking football game I've ever seen. If you can handle the slightly more arcade type feel to the game, it has it all over Madden 2002. It sure would be nice to have some equivalent of the Madden Cards but even without it - this is one helluva football game. You can't coach that.
Gran Turismo 3: Okay, yes this game has been out for six months now, but I had to put some more time into it after playing Metropolis Street Racer for the Xbox. This game is damn near flawless. Well, with the exception of a lack of skid marks (almost unforgivable), crash modeling, and complete lack of ability to turn up the volume on the background music (really). Outside of that, the cars handle just like you think they would - and this game is deep enough to keep you busy for months. Literally. If you're going to own one driving game, this is it.
Grand Theft Auto III: I don't mean to rain on anybody's parade but please, give me a friggin' break. The way people were talking about this game, you'd of thought that it'd be fun. Marketed as a 'mature' game, I guess a large part of the fun of this game is suppoed to come from all the bad things you can do. Hmm... maybe I haven't gotten far enough in this game (roughly 6-7 hours into it) but picking up a hooker (read: woman with fishnet stockings) to take her to a policeman's ball isn't criminal - it's a taxi service. I was thinking this would be a criminal Shenmue type game, but it's just not there. The palatte of colors used in the game is muted, the storyline isn't that engaging, in short - I don't get the appeal of this game. I'm sure some of you will LOVE it, but if I'm going to spend several hours driving around, I'd just as soon drive in a game with realistic handling. Skip it.
Xbox
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Halo: I'm not the biggest fan of first person shooters. Personally, the last time I spent a lot of time on one was when 007's Goldeneye came out for the N64. But Halo pretty much rocks. It's the best looking FPS I've seen, and it has a high nervous quotient to it in the beginning because you just get dropped into the action - so you have to learn everything on the fly. I've only spent an hour with this game, but it deserves some more time.
Oh, and Penny Arcade has a great comic [penny-arcade.com] about it.
NASCAR Thunder 2002: I know what you're thinking... it's NASCAR. And you're right. But it's also one fun racing game. They've crammed 43 cars onto one track, built in a nice drafting system and they put you on the NASCAR tracks and let you go to it. It's pretty fun to start a race in the middle of the pack and to be passing cars the entire race. If you like to race, this is a great game.
Project Gotham Racing: Do you remember Metropolis Street Racer on the Dreamcast? No? Shame on you. Yes? Well, this is like MSR 2. It's really good. It looks good, the sound is awesome and there are enough tracks and cars to keep you busy for the next 3 months. It has a kudos system to reward good driving, and the game demands expertice to beat it. It's a really fun title.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2x: I'm a Tony Hawk freak. Ever since THPS1 on the Dreamcast, I've logged more hours on THPS games than any other game I can remember playing with the exception of some Final Fantasy games - or maybe some game for the NES back in the day when I didn't have anything better to do. I own a bunch of them, THPS 1 and 2 on the Dreamcast, THPS3 on the PS2, THPS2x on the Xbox and THPS3 on the Gamecube. So I feel TOTALLY qualified to say what's right and wrong with this game. And this game has an issue - it's the controller. The Xbox controller is about the size of New Hampshire. It's friggin' huge. I just haven't gotten used to the controls on this game yet. Otherwise, this is THPS 2 on the DC with marginally better graphics, a few new areas on existing levels to explore, a new menu system, supposedly THPS 1 is in the game somewhere - so you can now manual throughout that game (they added the manual after THPS 1) and there are six new levels. It's fun, but if you have THPS 1 and 2 for the Playstation or Dreamcast already... you can pretty much pass this title up.
Dead or Alive 3: This game is basically Dead or Alive 2 with better graphics. I've never been a huge fan of this series because I personally like to beat the crap outta people without having to be graceful about it. And best I can tell, DoA3 asks for grace. You have to know just when to block, just when to counter and just when to attack. There's no run-away command to back up quickly, so everything is pretty much hand to hand short distance combat all the time. It's fun for about 10 minutes, but then I just want to play Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast - if I'm going to play a fighter.
Gamecube
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Luigi's Mansion: Okay, I thought this was a dumb as hell idea for a game. Give Luigi a vacuum cleaner and a flashlight and let him run thru some mansion stunning ghosts so he can suck them up in his vacuum cleaner. But I have to admit, this game is fun. It brings back some of that original Mario feel to a 3D game. It's silly, and ultimately, pretty stupid, but give it up for the game and the system. I woke up this morning wanting to play it some more. And now that I've finished it - I have to admit - it's one of the best looking games I've ever seen. Seeing Bowser rendered in all his 3D splendor alone was worth the purchase.
Rogue Squadron II: This is supposed to be the game that got everybody's juices flowing when they saw it. And it comes pretty damn close to the hype that preceeded it. The original Rogue Squadron came out for the N64, and that game was bad ass. This game is just as cool. It looks at times just as good or better than the Star Wars movies. This isn't like Star Wars Starfighter on the PS2 where you can do barrel rolls while flying your craft. Starfighter feels a bit more like a sim game, where you really have to have skills to blow stuff up. This game is all about recreating the fun of the dogfights from the movies. The explosions are amazing. And when you fire a missle down a shaft, you see the light from the missle light up the shaft as it flys down it... majorly cool. This game is way fun. And the sound is amazing. Add to that, this is the first game I know of that has a making of documentary built in, and you've got a title that you pretty much need to own if you have a GameCube.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3: Like I said above, I rock these games. Off the bat, I like this game better than the PS2 version. Mostly because I could pick up the game without looking at the manual and I could trick all day long, so the controls are really good. There are a few issues with the game being too forgiving with landings or how you do tricks - but I almost prefer it to the PS2 version where everything has to be perfect. I guess maybe I'm just somewhat of a sloppy skater. But the game is super fun. If you're a THPS fan and have a Gamecube... consider this a must buy.
Wave Race: I wasn't so sure about this game. I've never really liked any other wave race type games (the one for the N64 comes to mind) bascially because I was bad at it. The waves frustrated me, and there was nothing compelling enough about the title to make me put serious time into it. But this game changes all of that. The water is hands down the best, most amazing beautiful water in any game you've ever seen period stop end of discussion. It's that good. It looks great in all conditions. But when it's raining outside, it especially looks cool. The water will splash up on the camera and leave water marks. The graphics are gorgeous. Once I got the hang of the controls (not hard to master), this game totally rocked. This was the big surprise game for me. With tons of tracks, and tons of characters to choose from - I can already tell that this game will get some good play for weeks to come.
Lastly, if you're on a budget, but you want to be happy-happy on Dec. 25th, go buy a Dreamcast and a bunch of used games. Systems run $80, and your typical used game goes for around $20. Try Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, NFL 2K2, Samba de Amigo, Shenmue, Sonic I & II, Virtua Tennis, Skies of Arcadia, THPS 1 & 2, Metropolis Street Racing, Ferrari 355 Challenge, and, Test Drive LeMans among the many other great games for this underappreciated system.
Well, that's the wrap-up. Happy gaming.
Re:New for Nerds? (Score:2, Insightful)
Why buy a $1500 computer with MS Word when a typewriter accomplishes virtually the same effect? This thing is much more than a couple wheels and a motor. It automatically moves itself to keep the wheels under you. You can't fall over on it, unless you deliberately try (and even that requires some effort, from what I understand.) I could easily see this technology replacing the attempts to put legs on robots in order to mimic human mobility. But then again, what do we need robots for, when we already have people?
I don't care about the "scooter" application either, but this technology has a zillion applications for anyone or anything that needs to be moved, lifted, transported, etc.
Re:The Burning Question Everybody Wants to Know: (Score:5, Insightful)
Look, Sims Hot Date is $29.99. Penthouse will run you about five to six bucks. Just cut out the middle man.
I'm kidding. I actually own Hot Date, and it's entertaining enough (if a little buggy), but smutty it isn't, at all. Nor, I think, will the Sims ever be, as the "T" rating and lack of tit & ass / power armor / ludicrous gibs / seeing one's own reflection in the blood splattered on the wall from Sodomizer 5000 no doubt helps put Sims in the top ten sales rankings.
Not that I don't enjoy my Unreal Tournament, but the Sims is a nice change of pace from the usual fare of Decapitator III Online (now with bare-naveled mascot!) or what have you. I can get that kind of stuff anywhere.
Re:SSX Tricky (Score:3, Insightful)
Agreed. I was a huge fan of the orriginal, and just picked up Tricky a few days ago. Man, this game is awesome. Even though only two of the tracks are completely new, the old tracks are so drastically different, you'll barely recognize them. Snowdream in paticular doesn't look a thing like it did in the first game. The new characters rock, the soundtrack is better than ever, the graphics have been slicked up a notch, and the game is even more addictive than its predecessor. Another cool thing EA did was include a "DVD Extras" portion on the disc, which is basically a collection of making-of documentaries like you would expect to see on a movie DVD. Overall, the game is incredible. Go buy it, now [ebgames.com].
I'm playing the PS2 version though, according to IGNCube's review [ign.com] the Cube version has some graphical and control issues. You might want to pick it up for the PS2 if you have the choice between platforms.
Re:New for Nerds? (Score:3, Insightful)
This is hilarious. The slashdot crowd over-hyped the invention -- not DEKA -- and now the slashdot crowd is pissed off at DEKA because it does not live up to the hype?
Ok, very neat, "think forward, go forward". But beyond that, it's not like people are really incapable of learning to use a throttle. For the most part, when I'm driving I don't have to consciously remind myself which pedal to step on to make the car go...
You just don't get it. It's very simple. This device lets you move 4 times as fast as walking speed, while you expend LESS energy, and you are LESS likely to be knocked over by outside forces.
It requires about 10 cents worth of energy per day to run.
Why does it need a Stirling engine or alternative fuel?
Oh, I forgot, because that's what the slashdot crowd said it would have.