Assassin missions done. Both of the last two were pretty easy, though the fourth one gave me fits because I couldn't keep my (newly re-purchased) PSG-1. ARGH!

So then I whipped out the guide I bought and started snagging hidden packages. I was also working on vigilante missions. They get tougher at around level 6 or so. I understand you have to successfully do 12 levels to get the extra armor. Which I don't really need right now. Oh well.

I also had a fun time just causing general mayhem and killing people. Oh, and I did another rampage. It was like "kill 10 in 2 minutes with the PSG-1". Couldn't get any easier.

I love the Spaz shotgun. I went ahead and bought a bunch, as well as the PSG-1 rounds (I'm at about 150 on both, I think). Good times.

Where are you at, money-wise? Just curious.

I'd have to go back and check where my money's at -- it's been a while. Once you've bought all the properties, it's all uphill from there.

The vigilante missions are a bastard... UNLESS you use the attack helicopter, at which point it becomes a lot easier once you get the hang of its missiles. Since you've finished Keep Your Friends Close, the chopper should be available at the Air Force base. (Note that getting into and out of said Air Force base without being shot to ribbons is another matter entirely.)

Free tip for weapons that'll save you a ton of money: some weapon types use the same ammo. This is particularly useful with the Uzi family; you can buy up thousands of shells of the ultra-cheap variety (MAC10s for $100 in Ocean Beach), then buy ONE expensive MP5 and the ammo will transfer over. Ditto for shotguns (buy standard Chrome, then pick up one Spaz) and assault rifles (buy Rugers, then pick up one M4). Unfortunately, this doesn't work for the Colt Python or the Sniper rifles.

Saving money on weapons is important when you start doing rampages, because your weapons will have an annoying tendency to disappear due to a bug. If you start a rampage that has (let's say) a mini-gun as the weapon of choice, you are given an unlimited-ammo mini-gun. When you finish it or time runs out, it takes away the mini-gun BUT DOESN'T RETURN whatever weapon you had in the Heavy Weapons slot before you started the rampage. This is particularly aggravating for drive-by shooting missions, which take away your submachine gun.

Supposedly, what can tend to happen is that it tries to give the weapon back, but assigns the ammo to the wrong weapon class. This is how I ended up with a Colt Python with 4000 shells. If you have the "right" weapon already readied when you touch the Rampage icon, it generally eliminates this problem, but that implies that you already know what the Rampage is before you touch it.

Yeah, that's how I've ended up with about 2,000 Uzi shells for my MP5 - picking up lots of the other ones, like the one under Skumole. I didn't know about the MAC10 at $100 though - I'll have to check that out.

VC definitely has some annoying bugs; I have lost probably 10 vehicles in garages so far, and I haven't done anything "tricky" (you'll remember that from a year ago).

I was going to collect all 100 packaes to get the helicopter, but if you say it's there now... well, w0rd. I was also thinking that the Rhino would be choice.

Where is it in the AFB? I've tried getting in there before, and yes, it's kinda... defended. But I can probably mange. The problem is saving the chopper from getting shot to pieces on the way out. Maybe if I get a Sea Sparrow and then go in guns blazing? Just an idea.

The deal with the Hunter copter is that there are two ways to unlock it:

* finish Keep Your Friends Close (the last storyline mission)
* get all 100 hidden packages

If you do ONE of the above, the Hunter will appear all the way in the back of the AFB (the north side), behind a bunch of fences.
If you do BOTH of the above, the Hunter will appear in the AFB, and _also_ at the helipad in Ocean Beach (completely undefended).

The soldiers at the AFB are hostile to you even after you've completed both tasks... UNLESS you're wearing a certain outfit. If you're wearing the right outfit, they're friendly to you as long as you don't shoot or bludgeon any of them, and you can walk right up to the Hunter and take off. (For entertainment, get someone chasing you and lead them through the gate, and watch the soldiers blast your pursuer to kingdom come.)

I have gotten the Hunter out a few times without the outfit trick, but it's very hard. What I did was to fly a Maverick in at high speed from the north, and bail out right over the Hunter's pen. If you're lucky, the game will get confused and spawn airport personnel instead of soldiers in that area, and you can take off before anyone else shows up. If you're not, they'll shoot you to ribbons in the several seconds that the takeoff sequence requires. It might actually be easier to fetch the Rhino by this method (more armor), except that that doesn't appear until you've got 90 packages.

How does one come across said outfit?

Also, do you think VC is better than GTA3? I think I've enjoyed it more, because a) I'm better, so it's less frustrating, and b) there's more to do, it seems. I think the properties really added something to it, at least for me.

(If it's just the cop outfit, then I have that already, obviously. Er, I think I do.)

It is the cop outfit; it's in the same place as in "No Escape." (Which is a little odd. Imagine a beat cop charging into an airfield and commandeering an Apache, saying "I need this, there's a mugging-in-progress downtown." Then again, real-life beat cops typically don't have to deal with guys with rocket launchers and Gatling guns.)

GTA3 has some things going for it that Vice doesn't:

* GTA3 came _completely_ out of left field to stun the gaming world. I owned all three GTA titles (1, 2, London pack) before GTA3, so I was no stranger to the series, but even I was blown away as to how perfectly the developers took it to the next level. Vice was nowhere near that kind of generational leap, so while it was also highly entertaining, there was a certain been-there-done-that feeling to many parts of it.

* GTA3 had MUCH better music. Much much better. Not that there weren't tracks on Vice that I enjoyed, but apart from a couple of Love Fist songs, they'd all been heard before.

The homegrown tracks on GTA3 had that funky Craig Conner vibe to them, which was a major plus; the parody music was a highlight of all the previous GTAs. Likewise, while some large-label musicians were included, they weren't 'name' artists like Vice used; they were off-the-beaten-path types that were new to most people. (I bought the relevant Scientist album after enjoying K-Jah, for instance.) If I wanted to hear the non-original songs of Vice City, on the other hand, my local Sam Goody had all of them.

The talk radio for both games was excellent, so one point for Vice for having two stations, though (again) I probably preferred Lazlow in GTA3 to either individually.

* You didn't have to tweak the graphics in GTA3 in the first five minutes to make the game viewable. (Did anyone NOT turn the blurring off in Vice?)

Now, Vice was a more COMPLETE game, with lots of new features, but I expected no less. The motorcycles and helicopters alone were worth the purchase price, the property system gave it new life in late-game, and the storyline was fleshed-out more than GTA3's without limiting the player's in-game freedom.

According to the rumor mill, there are two development teams working on sequels: a PS2 sequel using the GTA3-Vice engine, and a second sequel intended for the PS3 and supposed to be another "generational leap," so to speak. Think 2004 for the former.

I'd take Lazlow over both of the talk radio shows in Vice. Lazlow was the only thing I listened to in GTA3.

As far as music in general, I think VC is trying to fit with the 80's, and honestly, I think it succeeds there. I never forget that it's taking place in the 80's rather than the 90's. But yeah, some of the music really bites. Especially "Gold" in WAVE 103. Good lord I hate that song.

Matt (mwbEEf on the Cellar) actually didn't turn the blurring off. That's the first thing I did. I'm not sure why they put that in, maybe to make it feel more like the 80's. I dunno. But I thought it was awful.

Man, the game just decided to forget my sniper rifle, so I have to go re-buy that shit again. I'm over $1 million now though, so it's no big deal.

I got the vigilante missions done. "Brown Thunder"... hehe. The missiles definitely are kinda difficult to aim, but I got lucky and had a LOT of vigilante missions in the airport on the tarmac (probably 6 of the 13 I completed). So that was easy. I ended the mission with 5 stars, which meant I had to collect a bunch of bribes. I picked up a number in the chopper and then one on foot (at Hyman Condo) - and then did the clothes change to lose the last two stars. Flying around in the Hunter was definitely fun, though it is less maneuverable than the Maverick that I'm used to. Oh well.

I spent a lot of time yesterday running from cops. I'd start some mayhem, get up to 4 or 5 stars and then just make a game of it trying to lose 'em. I love that one bribe in Little Haiti over the ramp, and then the one near Sunshine over another ramp. Those things are great!

Man, I have so much garage space. I noticed last night that I have about 5 PCJ 600's saved; those are great in a pinch. I find them to be pretty much the best for outrunning the cops (though I spent most of my time yesterday in a cop car, just for kicks). BF Injection for tooling around and I have not one but TWO Patriots in the mansion garage. Like you, I have a soft spot for those things.

Also, Hilary sucks.

i picked up gta3 for the pc tonight. i played vice city on the ps2 and hated it. im hoping i like the original better, and im hoping that playing it on the pc will help. im about to install it now. wish me luck. :)

~james

I'm buying Vice city for the PC for the summer, I'm going to be living at my uncles house and will have limited access to the net so I'm going to be bored when not working(kind of sad really). I'm hoping that keeps me occupied for a good chunk of time.

the bad news is that im really unhappy with the framerate im getting from the game. the good news is that im enjoying it enough to want a new video card to remedy the problem. :)

its probably a combination of improved controls (in my mind) and the fact that vice city had a "style" that ive never really identified with (while i did grow up in the 80s i cant really say im proud of that fact :) ).

~james

perth you SICK SON OF A BITCH! Hated it? Good lord.

Hey, I made it my personal mission the other day to collect hidden packages and do rampages in VC. I have 96 packages and 33 rampages done. I am at a whopping 66% completion. Really, hold your applause.

I don't know WHERE the four are that I'm missing. I found about 30 on my own, then the rest with a guide, and I went down and checked off every one. There's one in Little Haiti and three in Little Havana that I don't think I have, but since I got 30 and then the rest later, I can never be sure (I wasn't marking them the first time). I'll post the ones I'm not sure of later.

As far as rampages, I'm not sure where those are either. Driving me nucking futs, but I think ign's guide can get me through it. I had purchased an EGM one for just this purpose but they just have a map, no description of the location. IGN's got pretty decent descriptions on everything, so I should be fine.

After that, I guess it's just a shitload of vehicle missions and whatnot. I looked through the guide and saw RC stuff, the races at the stadium, etc.

Oh, and I also did the Downtown and Little Haiti Sparrow Checkpoint missions. Wee!

VC is good fun. And then I had to move.

hey, sorry man. at least im liking the original, right? :) i just cant enjoy anything that even remotely reminds me of don johnson in a pastel pink sports jacket.

~james

I like 80's music, and I can look past the rest. Once you get deeper into it, it's not as much like the 80's. It's got more depth than GTA3, which is cool.

But yes, I would yell at you if you didn't like GTA3 too. I can't comprehend how someone could not enjoy either of them. Paul doesn't like VC either, but played the original a ton. Matt hates the original but loves VC. I love 'em both. Takes a true fan, I guess. :P

tell ya what. ill play the hell out of gta3 and when i see vice city available for the pc for around 20 bucks, ill pick it up and give it another try. :)

the thing i like about the pc is that it plays mp3s. on the other hand, i cant get enough of the talk radio station. funny as hell.

~james

Who said my name was Toni?

My ma, she's always sayin' "Toni, Toni, Toni"... hahaha

Yeah, Chatterbox FM was way better than the two in VC (although both are still very good, especially VCPR).

Let's press the issue!

"back to Maurice Chavez... the asshole."

"You're correct, he is an asshole."

That gets me every time. Man.

And I love the Maibatsu Monstrosity commercial.

Once I'm done with VC I'm going to go back and 100% GTA3, which I never got around to 'cause I got so burned out with it. Moderation...

The guy who averaged four hours a day of Quake is worried about PLAYING IN MODERATION?

I got 100% in GTA3, but I think I'll have to start over to nail 100% in Vice, as I have no idea of which of about ten unique jumps I'm missing.

Quake is different because the opponents change and you can improve drastically from any point in skill. Plus there are hundreds of maps to learn. I just got tired of GTA3 after a while. I played so much and still couldn't beat The Exchange without cheating, but I think that if I actually collect packages I could do a decent job at it. Plus I'm re-invigorated about it. I think I could do it this time.

Hint: before you wipe your old savefile, try this...

Park a TANK on the street by Catalina's HQ when you're ready to start "The Exchange." When you make your break at the beginning of the mission, the tank _should_ be there; if not, park it a little farther from the entrance the next time and try again. Use the tank's firepower to flatten 90% of Catalina's goons, shoot the others with the guns that the 90% drop, and use the sniper rifle near the entrance of the Dam compound to nail the guys who are guarding Maria. The rocket launcher is up on the pad, and you know the rest.

Since tanks are readily available in Liberty City without cheating via the time-honored Parking Garage method, this shouldn't take too long to set up. (Alternate if you're already in Shoreside Vale: run across the street from your hideout onto the grassy embankment, overlooking the streets below. Start blasting anything that moves and rocketing choppers to get to six stars, throw grenades when a tank pulls up, and drive like a mad bastard back to the hideout to save. It'll save you a trip back to Staunton Island, and if you're in the right spot, cops won't tend to spawn up on the hill and annoy you.)

Ah, man, don't get me tempted to go back and start either game again! I'm already at 70+ hours in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, am waiting to start Kingdom Hearts, and have the Stanley Cup Playoffs to distract me.

By the way, have you ever done the "Super Jump" in GTA3, where you can put a car on the overhead-train tracks in Portland and (with some luck) have it launch you all the way to Staunton Island?

No, I didn't get to trying much. I still fondly remember your description of it (I go back and re-read this entire thread every few weeks). I guess that will be something to do once I finish Vice City. :)

So after getting moved, I've had little time to play Vice City, but that doesn't mean I haven't gotten anything accomplished.

I'm up to 97 hidden packages, and when I finally get around to printing out IGN's guide, I'm sure I'll finish those pretty quick.

33 rampages and no idea which I'm missing. Again, IGN's guide should help.

11 unique jumps, but I haven't been trying. The only ones I've done since last time are the ones on the docks where Cortez was. I PCJ'd 'em, and it was annoying 'cause I kept landing the second one (off the speed from the first) and then either hitting the side or turning a bit when I hand-braked and swerving - and then hitting the side - and going into the water. On the fourth try I finally landed 'em safely and got back to the apartment to save.

After that, I spent an hour flying the Hunter around (which I've found stupidly easy to get by flying in on the Maverick and grabbing in, even if I'm wearing golf clothes) and shooting down planes out of the air (as well as blowing up shit on the ground). Eventually I hit enough buildings (flying low at very high speed in a less-than-super-maneuverable helicopter == bad) that I blew up, and I got dead in about 2 seconds on the ground. So I turned off my PS2 and went to bed. :)

i picked up the gba xp last night, in cobalt blue. damn, this thing is what the gba should have been in the first place. the lit screen looks beautiful, and as near as i can tell, it doesnt significantly impact battery life. the rechargeable, lithium ion battery. it might just be me, but the speaker sounds better. of course, the best way to go is with a decent set of headphones. which is where the gba sp trips up. apparently, a special adapter is needed to use headphones, which sucks, especially because i cant find the goddamned thing in any store. the new style is easier to hold, and the buttons feel better, with a slight 'click' to them that i hope doesnt fade with use.

i picked up the latest castlevania, aria of sorrow, as well. so far the most enjoyable castlevania since symphony of the night on psx. the soul stealing system is cool, and the graphics, while similar to the previous gba games, seem sharpened up a bit. the music is, as usual, great.

~james

Get Metroid Fusion. It rules.

I have the silver SP, which came with a free replacement plan from Best Buy. I love the damn thing.

Best Buy should also have a nice case for it (I'll take pictures some other day) that will hold games as well as the unit- though you're out of luck on the recharger. But it's nice and small, anyway. :)

I love my SP.

im on it. :) i also want zelda and some sort of rpg for my upcoming plane trip. i have golden sun, but im thinking something different would be nice. ill hit best buy tonight to see the selection.

~james

No, I'm fucking serious. It rules oh-so bad. IGN gave it like a 9.6 and said it was one of the best games on the GB, and I completely agree. There's really only one area that was frustratingly difficult for me, but the rest is just about perfect. Good story (I got goosebumps at one point), great gameplay... and only $30. I'm working my way through it a second time. It's awesome.

so am i. ill pick it up tonight. :D

~james

A few other suggestions:

* Advance Wars -- pure wargame goodness. An absolute must.
* Fire Pro Wrestling (I or II) -- Decent renditions of the best wrestling series ever.
* If you like strategy RPGs, look at Tactics Ogre.
* Konami Collector Series: Arcade Advanced rules the fargin' earth, if you can find it (contains Time Pilot, Yie-Ar Kung Fu, Frogger, Gyruss, Rush'n Attack, Scramble, all with remix modes)
* Bubble Bobble: Old and New (if they'd ever get off their asses and RELEASE IT in the US -- I've been playing the import for almost a year now)

Best Buy's game selection sucks donkey rocks. Hit the mall and look at GameStop or Electronics Boutique.

hmm... i havent checked circuit city to compare to best buy, but they seem to have the best selection around here. the eb in the mall here has shit for gba games (come to think of it, the eb here sucks in general, although i found some dreamcast accessories for dirt cheap there recently). i had a helluva hard time just finding the gba. went to best buy, eb, etc. and finally found 1 cobalt blue gba sp at target. :)

~james

picked up zelda and metroid fusion. metroid rocks, as dave said, and the only reason im posting this and not playing it is because i made the mistake of suggesting that casey give zelda a try.

~james

It should probably take you 4-5 days to beat Metroid, upon which you'll see your percent completed and go "Jesus, I have to play that again!"

I believe mine the first time through was 42%. :)

Tell me once you get to Serris; he's the first really annoying boss. The spider boss was the one that frustrated me to no end. After that, the really only annoying one was... well, I won't say, but if you've played any of the other Metroid games, you'll know him. Think wings. :)

Anyone tried either of the Midnight Club games?

Both sound structurally similar to the Tokyo Highway Battle series, but with Rockstar at the helm, and look interesting. Think Vice City street races (NOT like The Driver, hopefully, more like the Sunshine Autos race board) as an independent game with a steady framerate and faster cars.

(toying with the notion of a purchase)

I have the first one, $20 at Wal-Mart. Pretty cool, but I haven't spent a lot of time on it. No, not nearly as frustrating as The Driver.

I have a pile of games that are sitting in my on-deck circle, waiting to be played. I have another pile that I'm about 80-90% through, waiting for me to work up the desire to finish them.

So what did I do this weekend? Ignore both piles, go back to my PSX collection and blast my way through games that I'd already enjoyed and played to death.

This weekend's oldie-but-goodie: <b>the Tecmo's Deception series</b>.

The Deception games are unusually dark in tone, particularly the first one (in which Our Hero is executed unjustly, makes a deal with Satan and returns to seek bloody revenge). Parts Two and Three cast their antiheroines a bit more sympathetically (one brainwashed, the other defending herself and revenging a slain family). In any case, the games are all about one basic play mechanic -- setting up traps on room ceilings, floors and walls, and using them to carve, fling, fry, zap, pummel and squash all who would oppose you.

I'm partial to Deception II and III myself, which both have third-person perspectives (think Resident Evil) instead of the first game's Doom-esque style. You start with rudimentary traps and tools, and build up resources by using them to defend yourself against intruders; at any given time, you can have one ceiling, one wall and one floor trap ready for use or charging in each room. (Traps can be relocated or switched at any time, but they have a "charge up" time after placement.) Successful trap hits earn you skill points; creative combos and using built-in room fixtures (pendulums, electric chairs, buzz saws, falling pillars, etc.) build them up even faster. Skill points are traded for more advanced traps, allowing talented players to build up quite an arsenal rather quickly.

When you get the hang of the trap system, the game is an exercise in cathartic sadism; you can catch an invader by surprise and slam him/her through eight or nine traps in a row, before they can react or lay a finger (or sword, spell or arrow) on you. Watching opponents bounce around like superballs can get repetitive -- most enemies are more hapless than threatening -- but there's a perverse satisfaction in finding new and creative combos.

If this sounds at all appealing, the games are out there for cheap. Kagero: Deception II is fairly common in EB used bins, often for less than ten bucks. Deception III adds in a training mode, an expert (puzzle) mode, and a much more detailed trap-building system (which can make the game much easier than Deception II, but oh well.)

Between the Deception games and the Monster Rancher series, I don't want to know how much of my life Tecmo's games have leeched away...

I bought GTA3 Vice City for Windows two nights ago, and it seems pretty cool. However, it locked up twice in the short time I was playing it. Pretty dissapointing. Especially since I'd just spend over an hour downloading and installing various Windows 2000 updates (along with 4 reboots) before I played it. I think I'll try getting new NVidia drivers and see if that helps things out.

i finally picked up zelda : windwaker for the gamecube. uh. damn. talk about a great game. most obviously, the graphics are beautiful. from the characters to the backgrounds to the tiniest little touches, i cant even count how many times ive said 'wow'. the bomb clouds are great.

the sound is great. the music is subtle and appropriate, and the string version of the zelda theme at the beginning made for a great fanboy moment. sound effects are crisp and sort of whimsical. while the characters dont 'talk', the nondescript voices add a nice level of immersion.

gameplay is tight and intuitive (mostly). its complex without being overwhelming and while i find myself forgetting some of the moves from time to time, its thoroughly enjoyable to play.

all in all, this is probably the finest game ive played on the gamecube.

~james

So it's not stupid and frustrating like Mask of Majora? Might be worth a look-see. Did you get the game bundled with Ocarina of Time? I've wanted to know if it's a direct port or if they enhanced it any ...

nope. i think that was available only right after the game came out. :( this one has had a couple frustrating moments, but thats mostly because i like exploring *everything* and the camera isnt quite perfect in that regard. im not very 'good' at the game, so i could see it becoming frustrating if it ramps up too much in difficulty, but so far its been quite forgiving.

~james

Good news everybody!! We no longer have to worry about being restricted from playing "violent" videogames ... the 8th Circuit believes it's a first amendement issue! (presumably from now on the coolest games will be rated "M" for "more sales")

I wonder if this means that the Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics stickers will be the next to go ...

What's this "we"? We're both well over 17, right?

(Not that the legislation in question wasn't moronic, of course. Any time the Joe Lieberman-types of the world get their knuckles rapped, an angel gets its wings.)

Not a chance in hell. Tipper & Co. didn't get what they wanted (a much more explicit letter-coded rating system where _they_ dictated what the letters stood for) back in the day, but what they did end up causing (the Tipper Stickers) were sufficiently generic as to be toothless. (I'm sure Luther Campbell and Jack Thompson might argue the "toothless" part, but efforts to reclassify the Parental Advisory stickers as a legal definition of obscenity died a deserving death.)

Ironically, the video-game industry's stickers are much closer to Tipper's original dream (letter grades AND more thorough breakdowns of potentially offensive content)... but they work pretty well, because those setting the ratings are reasonably objective.

I actually was referring to the broader implications regarding attempts to restrict content in the games ... bring on the gore, baby.

Also I loved the statement near the end of the article which denies the much discussed link between game violence and actual violence. At last, someone speaks sense.

Really? I've often wondered if violence in video games, movies, TV etc doesn't desensitize kids to hurting people. Are you saying it doesn't or that it hasn't been proven? I don't have the answer but I'm always looking for it.

"they" have been saying this for years ...

The best known experiment was the one in which they showed violent cartoons to young children and then sent them into an observation room with a Bozo the Clown bopper doll in it.

Now, we've probably all had one of these toys.

You hit it in the nose. It makes a squeaky noise, and it falls back, then, because the rounded bottom is weighted it rights itself, and you get to start all over again.

The kids hit the bopper doll on the nose and thought it was funny (i.e., they made correct use of the toy).

Ergo ... watching violent TV causes children to be violent.

The judges rendering the decision are the ones that said the linkage does not appear to exist, not me. I'm just cheered by it.

There are a lot more people that play first person shooters than there are people who go out and ruthlessly murder others. Heck, I regularly play first person shooters, AND I carry a gun. Still haven't shot anybody in cold or hot blood.

How about this:

There are certain individuals who, when exposed to large quantities of violent video games, may be influenced what they see and hear to some degree.

The same can be said for rap music, pornography, sitting in the 700 Level at an Eagles game, the Bible, pro wrestling, Jackass, talk radio, raves, thrash metal, anime, New Age tranquility music, watching golf on TV, political rallies, Wall Street Week and the nightly news.

Does this make any of the above inherently bad? Nope. It just illustrates that some people are easily influenced and some people aren't, and that hermetically sealing society to a six-year-old's level to "protect" the easily influenced never works. Every Prohibition just creates another underground.

Awright, awright...
 

...so I bought a GameCube last night. I am weak.

I'm consistent with my usual principles, however, in that I didn't buy it for the typical games that others bought it for. When the PSX was relatively new and selling like hotcakes, I held back for quite a while because the first wave of games didn't impress me; it wasn't until some appealing oddballs (Motor Toon Grand Prix, Bust-A-Move 2, Jumping Flash! 2, Felony 11-79, assorted arcade collections) started coming out stateside that I took the plunge.

Likewise, I now own a Cube, but skipped the free-game deal by getting a preowned one. The big Nintendo franchises don't impress me all that much. For the ~$160 (with tax) that a new system would've cost me, I got a Cube, _two_ controllers, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, Bloody Roar: Primal Fury (which I played over the weekend and liked, plus it was cheap), a memory card and a controller extension cable... and if I want Zelda or Metroid Prime down the line, there'll be lots of used copies out there for me to choose from.

Instead, I looked at the Cube's second-string titles and saw enough interesting-looking non-PS2 oddballs to make it worth the $89.99 gamble:

* Eternal Darkness
* Hunter: The Reckoning (wife played it over the weekend and loved it, sequel's coming out in two months)
* Bloody Roar: Primal Fury
* Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2
* Pikmin
* Skies of Arcadia Legends
* Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters
* Cubivore
* Ikaruga
* Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero (for my wife)

and a boot-disc import solution exists, so I can track down Japanese oddities as I see fit.

Of course, within 24 hours of my purchase, Acclaim <a href="http://cube.ign.com/articles/425/425457p1.html">announced that they were dropping GameCube support</a>. That in and of itself doesn't bother me -- I can count on one hand the number of non-Bust-a-Move games they've put out over the years that were worth a shit on ANY system -- but third-party developers tend to fall like dominoes once the big names start pulling out. First Sega (dropping sports support), now Acclaim...

Eternal Darkness is by far one of my most fav. games ever. Just all around goodness being given away there. I just picked up Ikaruga today, very good title as well. I really don't have any complaints about my GC. I sold my PS2 a year ago to get the GC when I found out that all the Resident Evil series were coming out for it. RE remake and Zero were both very good. Can't wait for part 4 (you can skip 2 and 3, meh...).
My next move with the Cube is to buy that GBA player thing and buy Lunar so I can relive the best RPG I ever played (at the very least the one i enjoyed the most).

I think part of what swayed me is that there are genuinely good games available for a fraction of the typical $50. If you know where to look, you can find Metroid Prime, Resident Evil, Resident Evil Zero, Eternal Darkness, Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2, Hunter: The Gathering, Pikmin, Bloody Roar, TimeSplitters 2, Super Mario Sunshine, Tony Hawk 4, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time at or below the $20-$25 price point.

There are bargains for the PS2 as well, of course, which is why I bought one of those first.

I rented Zelda... and I have to say that I'm not overly impressed. It's not a terrible game by any means... but if it didn't have the Zelda name attached to it (if it starred Kukla, Fran and Ollie instead of Link, Zelda and Ganon), I can't imagine that it would have the "best game ever" hype that it does, or that it would be more than a moderate hit for the system.

The controls are funky, to say the least. Some of the elements (like swinging on ropes/grappling hooks) are well done, while some are just strange. Whoever heard of a 3D platform-scrolling adventure WITHOUT AN INDEPENDENT JUMP BUTTON? I've spent as much time watching Link plummet (and often wondering WHY he jumped when he did) as I have getting him to go where I want him to. Getting the camera to behave can be a chore, as well.

Some of the puzzles are aggravating as hell. I can honestly say that without online (FAQ) assistance, I would have taken the game back without ever having cleared one of the first dungeons (the Dragon Roost), because there were several points in it that I wouldn't have figured out on my own.

The _very first puzzle_ was one of them; I spent an hour trying to figure out why there was nothing in the room that might generate a key, and no way to progress beyond that point without one. The answer? There _wasn't_ anything in the room with a key... until you lit a pair of bonfires at one end of the room, at which point a chest with a key would magically warp itself into existence. Say WHAT? MAJOR point deduction in my book. Some puzzles that followed were clever, and some too clever by half.

The plot has the common RPG flaw of stopping dead at many points until you talk to just the right person, or visit just the right location... but it's often devoid of visual clues or hints to point you in the right direction when you're stuck.

All in all, I'll keep at it until the rental period's up, but this one's not joining my collection until it drops to the $20 mark or less. That way, if I end up smashing the disc, I won't feel so bad about it.

<i>I spent an hour trying to figure out why there was nothing in the room that might generate a key, and no way to progress beyond that point without one.</i>

Here's another thing that separates different people's attitudes about gaming. I now utterly resent anything puzzle-like. After five minutes of that sort of thing I would take the game out and cut it up into little pieces. Then I would buy it at a store so I could return it to the rental place. I prefer freecell to that kind of stuff.

Zelda was a seven-day rental. I returned it on Day 6.

My wife is loving Eternal Darkness, so the Cube purchase is nonetheless worthwhile.

I finally found a use for my local Blockbastard Video:

* Metroid Prime at EB: $49.99 new, $29.99 used (which is actually a rather significant disparity for them; typically, EB only drops about $5 off the price of preowned games).

* Metroid Prime at GameStop: $49.99 new, $29.99 used. (I'm not sure who mimicked whose price structure here.)

* Metroid Prime at Best Buy, Circuit City, and most other non-specialty retailers: $49.99 new.

* Metroid Prime at Blockbuster: <b>$19.99 new, $14.99 used.</b>

(DING! We have a winner.)

i enjoyed zelda quite a bit. i wholeheartedly disagree with anyone saying its the greatest game of all time, or even the greatest in the zelda series. that honour goes to 'a link to the past' for the snes. :)

i picked up the gameboy player the other day. i think this peripheral is a must-have only for those who miss the glory days of the snes. with so many classic snes games being ported to the gba, and the gba's already fine assortment of quality games, its enough to make the old-school 2d fanboy drool.

how do the games look on the tv screen? shitty. you can tell the games were meant for play on a tiny lcd. screen-scrolling is a tiny bit jerky. hard to notice when youre watching play, but very noticeable when youre actually playing. but it is nice to be able to play these games using the (in my case) significantly more comfortable gc controller.

arguably the best feature, the gameboy player does a damn fine job fixing the problem of so few rpgs on the cube.

~james

I'm not really sure what the point of the Game Boy Player is, honestly, except perhaps as it's being pushed now (packaged with the GameCube as a freebie). As a separate purchase, I can spend fifty bucks to play the games on a TV at a less-than-crisp resolution, or I can spend sixty bucks and play the games on the system they were designed for AND take the games with me wherever I go. It's hard to carry the Cube and Game Boy Player on the bus.

If you want RPGs that you can play on your TV, the PSOne is cheaper than the GB Player...

I do already own one portable that I can run through my TV -- a friend who worked for Sega got me a Game Gear that had an A/V output hack, so that I could run it through my VCR and play Bust-A-Move on the big screen. (At the time, I did not have a 3DO or a Super Nintendo, which were the only other systems Bust-A-Move was available for. It and its sequels have been ported all over creation since, of course -- BAM2: Arcade Edition was the _first_ game I bought for my original PSX.)

Then there's the TurboExpress, which took great console games and _made_ them portable... but I digress.

well, the games i enjoy the most right now are all on the gba (the castlevania games, zelda, metroid, etc.) and being able to choose which console to play them on (gba for crisper display and portability, gc for more comfortable, extended playtime) is nice.

~james

You ever beat Metroid Fusion?

I haven't had a chance to play much lately, but I'm still working my way through it. Jeez that game ruled.

not yet. definitely the finest game in the series though. i got metroid prime, and while it is a good game in its own right, i really think they should stick to 2d with the series. oh well.

~james

Thanks to the wonderful world of ROM images, I have now played <a href="http://pocket.ign.com/articles/410/410028p1.html">Wario Ware, Inc.</a> for the Game Boy Advance.

Once I make a beeline for my local EB tomorrow to buy the cartridge, I may not be seen again for the rest of July. Maybe for the summer. If I'm not back by November, forward my mail.

Additional diversion: I hooked up my old TurboDuo last night.

Sure, modern games have better graphics and sound... but can today's developers come up with anything more surreal than Toilet Kids?

Okay...so...let 's say I was wanting to try out this particular ROM image. How would I go about doing that, exactly? I've tried the alleged ROM sites online, but all you can really do there is vote for the site...it isn't like you ever actually get to what they purport to offer.

Of course, I would only be auditioning this in preparation for buying it...

When it comes to console ROMs, USENET newsgroups are your best friend. If you have a decent news feed (which I do -- Verizon's is surprisingly robust), and if you find a newsgroup where someone's posted what you're looking for, you can download everything from entire system collections for older consoles (say, everything for the Atari 2600 in one .RAR file) to CD-ROM images for newer systems like the PSX or Dreamcast.

The caveat is, of course, that you're restricted to whatever other people have posted recently. You can make requests, obviously, but that doesn't mean anyone has to listen. ;) (I've been requesting PSX Cho Aniki for ages...) Still, if you wait long enough and ask politely, just about anything will turn up.

Failing that, there are always peer-to-peer apps.

(Arcade games are found at www.mame.dk; register to enable downloading.)

I've been using MAME for years, and I have quite a ROM collection for it, but ROMs have become a lot harder to come by in recent years.

What extender do GBA ROMS use, anyway?