Told ya.

Nori and Taka (in Joy Joy) are pretty good punching bags for a while, in order to build up a decent card library. Standard opponents give you three cards when you beat them; bosses give you five, but you can't fight a boss until you've beaten all the standards in his/her area, so don't worry about stumbling into a fight that's too tough just yet. (You might stay away from the Resident Evil area for a bit, though.)

The bosses each have a particular strategy. One is in love with AC cards and cards whose powers replenenish his/her own deck, so as to try to run you out of cards and win that way. (Hint: I've been playing for a couple of years and NEVER run out of cards.) One loves extensive use of team-ups, often centered around the Heidern family (Heidern, Leona, Ralf and Clark). One has a lot of brute-force cards. One has a fairly balanced deck with one major "gotcha" card that can be a rude surprise. One takes an anti-AC approach, using cards that strip your hand down to minimal size so that his/her heavy hitters have a clearer path.

Of course, I won't go into which boss is which...

In the meantime, two quick hints:
* There are two noncombat ways of accumulating cards. One is a crane machine (location varying depending on which version you have) that can give you one freebie at a time; usually schlock, but I got a Guile from one once. The other is the trading machine that's in two locations; put in ten D's or five C's, and you get a random card in return. Again, often schlock, but the prizes are often much better, and two are unique to the machines and can't be obtained by other means.

* If you have specific cards in mind -- which you don't yet, as you're busy learning what the cards can do and who's who -- there are traders who'll offer four cards at a time, and who'll trade three of yours for your choice of one of theirs. It's rarity-for-rarity, so you need three C's or rarer to get a C or three B's or rarer to get a B, but it's a great way to get the specific cards you need.

Oh yeah -- and Donovan rules the freakin' earth early on. You'll see why if you get one.

Yeah man, like I said, I'll try anything. Just 'cause I haven't played it doesn't mean I won't like it. This was definitely one of the ones where I was more hesitant, because I never really saw the appeal of Magic or any of its ilk. But man! This is awesome.

If I haven't yet made it clear, <b>the Neo Geo Pocket Color rules</b>. IGN gave both Sonic Pocket Adventure and SNK vs Capcom: MotM freaking <b>10</b>. 10! It might not have as many games as GameBoy, but it sure has some really goddamn good ones. And the unit is $30! THIRTY FREAKING DOLLARS! Panhandlers can make that in a day! Games are about $10 each! ONLY TEN BUCKS! I really like how it fits in my hands, too. If I could change one thing, I would make it a bit wider or put the buttons a bit farther from the screen, 'cause my hands are pretty big and I've noticed that my thumb sticks out over the screen sometimes.

Oh yeah, and it should come with a carrying case. But other than that... jeez. I really like it.

(On a side note, in the next month or two, I think I am going to buy a GP32. I will keep you posted.)

Email me a price whenever you've got the chance; I'm sure I'll find it agreeable, and we can go from there.

But yeah. Thanks for the heads up on the NGPC and a few good games. I think I'm going to get some pretty serious mileage out of this.

vsp, I must say, I am extremely disappointed with you right now. I will never forgive you for not forcing me to get this shit last year. Jesus Christ this is good stuff.

AAAAGHASDFHHH!!!! LOOK AT WHAT FUCKING TIME IT IS! Between this and Super Mario Bros. 3 (Super Mario Advance 4 on my GameBoy Advance), I have been up all goddamn night. Arranging my freaking deck to add Morrigan (whom I acquired earlier today) and a few others, trying to discard the least useful... Jesus. This is addictive as hell.

Morrigan is one of the best cards in the game, so gold star for you. There are no other "vampiric" cards that give an opponent's health to you, and in conjunction with clear-away-blocker cards (Peacemaker, Puppet, Reparation, Double KO, and big guns like Akuma and Yamazaki), it's often not too hard to get that clear shot with her.

If you can get ahold of a Rose or two, do it. Her power (draw four cards, discard three when Rose is played) is just plain awesome for getting better cards at critical times. (Best Shot is sort of a low-budget version without the B rarity.)

She ain't too bad to look at either, so...

Obviously my deck sucks right now, but I have found a good combination to be Zangief and R. Mika, the retarded wrestler from Alpha 3. Zangief does decent damage (at least right now in the game), and with R. Mika's backup + a Unite 2 attack, I find myself with a perfect record against these schmucks. Mwahaha! (I have 3 Zangiefs and 2 R. Mikas, so I almost always have one ready to go.)

Man, I cannot believe how much I freaking like this game.

It's a good start, and you've got to play the cards you're dealt... but R.Mika is such a dead-end card (400/0) that there are better team-ups out there.

Juli and Juni are common team-ups, but they're moderately useless by themselves, and when you add them up you still only have 600 BP. Adding Cammy(a) to the mix gives you one more option, and all three will be useful when you get an M.Bison (which you really really really want but won't get for a while).

The Ken family is superior to Zangief, if you can get a couple of the relevant cards. Ken has Zangief's stats, a useful power, and two common backups (Ryu(a) and Sean) instead of one. The key to the Ken family is actually Sakura; not only is she invaluable early for her double-power-when-you're-at-1000-HP-or-less entry power, but she backs up damn near everybody.

It goes like:

Ken <- Ryu(a), Sean
Ryu(a) <- Ken, Sakura
Sean <- Shingo, Sakura
Sakura <- Shingo, Hinata
Shingo <- Sakura
Karin <- Sakura
Hinata <- Sakura

giving you a load of backup options if you can get the cards to do it, all of which are C rarity or less so they'll turn up reasonably often.

Not that there's anything wrong with Zangief, of course, and if you like the Zangief -> R.Mika combo, get an Alex or two (600/0) that R.Mika can also back up.

Oro is an underrated favorite of mine; he starts at 300/3, but every time the opponent draws a card, he gets 100 BP. Leave him in there for a while and block with your other guys, and watch him turn into a monster after a few turns...

Sakura has actually been my main killer. I have 1 Ken, 2 Ryu(A), 2 Sakura, 3 Sean. They are all in my deck currently. And yes, Sakura is teh bomb. When I get lucky enough to draw her, I'm happy. Always.

Zangief has just been getting a lot of play because it seems like I always have him in my hand right off the bat, and R. Mika seems to always get drawn soon thereafter.

I have 3 Juni's and 2 Juli's (or the other way around), and I have been using them frequently, but I don't have Cammy yet.

You're going to end up keeping Zangief for quite a while, but ditching R.Mika before long. The 300 backup boost is nice, but it's not worth the times when you'll face a tough situation and have nothing but R.Mikas and her rough equivalents in your hand. Z makes a nice grunt even without his backup.

Cammy(a) is no great loss. Plain Cammy is 300/4, which is useful early on when you need SPs, but it doesn't take long for me to find 300/5s or 400/4s (or better) to replace her. Likewise for Juni and Juli; hell, a single 600/2 card replaces both until you find a Bison.

About the only 300-point card I keep for long is Duck King, and that's because he's a 600/3 in disguise (he can either keep the 300 points himself, or give them to another card in play.)

Yeah, I have him.

Wait. I thought I did. But apparently I don't. I swear I have a card that does the same thing though, and the name sounded familiar.

I have his bastard cousin that does an extra 100 BP. The reason the name is familiar is 'cause I always check out the info on the cards, and he's got backup from DK.

By the way, vsp, I found a game for N64 that you'd probably like. Conker's Bad Fur Day. Review available at http://ign64.ign.com/scores_9.html (it's right near the top). I'd link right to the review but IGN's blocked from work and I can't get to it. Anyway, read that review and tell me that doesn't sound like something you'd like.

(I just got my copy, so that's what made me think of it.)

(Incidentally, I have a spare N64 + all hookups + controller + rumble pak for you to borrow/barter if you decide that you do indeed want to play this game.)

I do indeed love Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Have you gotten to the "pissing off the bull" level? What about bouncing on the flower's hooters? And the big pile of crap ... i LOVED the big pile of crap!!

I really have to play more N64. I've been neglecting it lately.

Heh, no. I <b>just</b> got my copy, and I'm still at work (see same post). I'll start it in the next few days, when I can pull myself away from Cardfighter's Clash.

I'm familiar with the concept of the game and have seen the trailer for it (Rare sent out a mini-movie with the "Saving Private Conker" cinema and other skits, and it was hysterical). The sense of humor is great, and the fact that _Rare_ (whose other N64 output was often just short of Teletubby overcuteness) put it out was awesome.

I'm just not much for 3D run-and-jump-and-climb games in general, so while it may be the masterpiece of its genre, it's not on my must-have list. (Sort of like how I can't stop pimping Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, but it's pretty much the antithesis of what a FPS addict would likely be into.)

Not to mention that I have waaaaay too many games that I haven't even started playing yet. Kingdom Hearts has been on standby forever. I may get to Metroid Prime soon, because my wife's having surgery next week and will be on leave for a couple of weeks, so I'll let her use the PS2 for Fatal Frame 2 and Silent Hill 3. I haven't picked up VF4: Evolution yet, but I need to. Fatal Frame 2, Monster Rancher 4 (drool!), Manhunt, and TWO classics packs (Midway Arcade Treasures and Intellivision Lives) are all tentatively scheduled for next week...

Duck's bastard cousin is, of course Kyoshiro of Samurai Shodown fame.

Ah, but see, I am not an FPS addict. I am a Quake addict. I hate other FPS', like Unreal Tournament and its ilk. Actually, I like anything by id, but everything else just seems to suck (to me). Disgaea actually sounds pretty interesting, and when it's $20, I might pick it up and try it out.

I know how it is about having way too many games on the plate. I reckon I have about 130 that I haven't really had a chance to explore and beat to death yet. One day...

Favorite Video Game Moment Ever
 

I was just thinking about this, so I thought I'd post it.

In Metal Gear Solid, Solid Snake gets captured and tortured. After he's been tortured, he's in a holding cell. There's a guard outside the cell checking in on him periodically. Crawling around on the floor, you find a ketchup packet. You have a system built into your body called the "Codec" where you can communicate with certain people. One of them suggests to pop the packet and lie still on the floor, making it look like you've bled to death. When the guard comes in, clock him and you're free.

So, the first time I'm doing this, I take the packet, pop it, lie in it... The guard comes up, looks in the room and goes

"HAHAHAHAHA! What are you doing with that packet of ketchup?"

I laughed so hard I cried. I wasn't at all expecting <b>that</b> to happen, and I found myself shocked and delighted. That's one of the many things that make it my favorite video game ever. But that's definitely gotta be my favorite video game moment.

Need I say more?

http://msdelta.net/~sycamore/cellar/ps2receipt.gif

Whoo-fucking-hoo!!

Congratulations!

I understand that GTA3 and Vice City are now being sold in a combo pack. Go get it. You will not regret this purchase.

So, did Dave spend the whole night whispering in your ear "buy a PS2" or did he just work his wicked way with you?

This probably wouldn't have happened if he'd stayed over at Tony's ...

(Don't feel too bad, since I'm now going to have to get a GBA.)

Dave offered me $40 for my PSOne and most of the games, if I would buy a PS2 today. I gave it some thought, considered the financial feasibility, then went to Game Stop and bought it, along with NHL 2004 and two memory cards.

I was going to buy it next month anyway, so what the hell?

The biggest thing, honestly, was that he only had one PlayStation controller. I was like "What the fuck, man?" and then I decided to take action.

nice Syc...very nice :)

Yet another new bundle of joy here on The Cellar. Sort of brings a tear of happiness to the eye...

:D

And herein lies the truth of why we don't have children.

They'd cut into our already scarce gaming time and would eventually want to play with our toys.

So, I'm trying to figure out how I am going to balance my time between the computer, the PS2, digital cable, and Rho. Looks like I'm going to have to cut back on time with Rho. ;)

I played a couple hours of NHL '04 tonight. Have to get used to using the joystick-dealie for movement...thumb went numb after 6 games. So far though, I'm digging the hell out of it. Can't wait to get this bitch hooked up online.

*rolls my eyes at you, hands on hips, neck twist* HMPH! :angry:

Wolf: AMEN to what you said about not having kids!

*childfree is the way to beeeee for meeee!* :D

You know, I don't mind people not having kids, 'cause it's one less person to get in my way on the fucking road. But could everyone please <b>SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT? NOT EVERY POST NEEDS TO BE ON THE MERITS OF NOT HAVING LITTLE UGLIES! ESPECIALLY NOT IN THIS BEAUTIFUL GAMING THREAD!</b>

I'm damn glad Rho and Sycamore aren't having kids, 'cause I can't imagine how ugly the spawn of T-$ would be. Even having Rho's genes to make it less ugly, I still can't imagine...

Heh, you are too kind sir. BTW, your care package has been mailed. Take note when you receive it: I did *not* tape it up...lol! :D

Who did, the retard?

Heh! If you are refering to Syc..no. But good guess..LOL!

It was the USPS clerk, who was pretty useless. I thought that once she supplied the box, that SHE would be the one to pack it and tape it up. Turns out that *I* had to pack the box, and I taped the box together, but she added her "special" touches to it.

I think that she didn't want to ruin her Lee Press On Nails. :mad:

I got Rainbow Six 3 for Xbox a few days ago. Friday or something. Thursday, I think. It's pretty freaking suh-weet. Definitely looking forward to getting Live set up and playing on that. I'm enjoying single player, but the AI isn't super awesome (like it was in Halo). It's still challenging, though, since it strives for realism. You don't get shot very many times before you're dead.

I also bought Morrowind. Luckily, I didn't open it, because a few nights later, I saw Morrowind: Game of the Year edition. I was like "Well, I guess I'll get that instead." I'll take the original back. Anyway, IGN's review made it sound pretty freaking good, and I'm determined to play me some RPG's. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you can basically get lost in this. And that's kinda one of the things I'm looking for. Linear gameplay has its good points, but having something different every once in a while is good.

I got some other shit too, but I'm tired. Ha! So I'll write about it later.

vsp, sell me shit. :)

I got GTA3 about a month ago from Jimbo, and threw myself headlong into it. Only have a few more gigs to finish up in Portland and then I'm off to the island. But I could tell I was playing it too much when I got a headache after playing it for like 8 hours one Friday night.

I've been focused on NHL '04 the last 2 weeks, playing the Blues in Dynasty mode: I'm finally up to today's game (except in my world, the Blues will not lose to the Flyers 7-2). I haven't made too many roster changes...I think the biggest trade I've made thus far was Al MacInnis and a few no names for Sandis Ozolinsh. Ozolinsh and Pronger on defense...that's wicked.

Unlike previous EA Sports games I've owned for Genesis and PSX, I make sure I bump up my ability level with NHL '04. It's no fun to beat teams by 10 goals anymore...just bumped up my skill level to medium (I think I've played 32 games thus far).

I'm not sure what I'm going to get next, game-wise. My brother got me a gift cert from Best Buy for Xmas...might go with March Madness or FIFA, though Madden is tugging at me too.

I am quite happily playing games on my GameBoy Advance SP. Damn but that thing is SWEET.

I'm about to start the boss battle with the vat of Chuckola Reserve Cola.

When I need a break from that I'm playing Super Mario World (Super Mario Advance 2) ... it's a full port from the SNES game. I'm remembering enough of the tricks from the original game that I'm making pretty good progress, but being frustrated over stuff I remember as "easy" from playing through it the first time.

I broke down and got two additional games for it, Splinter Cell and Wolfenstein 3-D (yes, the original Wolfenstein PC game. I'm a sucker for game nostalgia. If they come out with a full port of Doom and Duke Nukem I am SOOO there.) I'm considering seeing how I make out for birthday loot and possibly getting the Atari Classics and the Midway Classics. (Or saving for a trap gun.)

You know, it's a difficult having so many hobbies and so little time.

I didn't get much in the way of consoles this Christmas, but I did get a couple cool things.

For the GBA SP, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I might not have read the manual thoroughly, but I had a really hard time figuring how to view stat changes, skill masteries and the like until I started browsing for it at gamefaqs.com. Once I figured that out, I found myself having a *lot* of fun with it. Its making me nostalgic for the original on the PSX, so I might have to dig it out. The game has a learning curve, but its not too bad, and once you figure it out, its a hell of a good time.

I also subscribed to Nintendo Power. Not for the magazine, which is a big Nintendo advertisement made for 10 year olds. I got it for the free gift. One CD, loaded up with Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The first two play exactly as they should, perhaps a bit smoother. I never got to play the other two, as I have never had an N64, so its nice to finally get to play them. Ocarina of Time is okay, but Majora's Mask is a lot of fun.

Midway Arcade Treasures for the Xbox. 20-odd arcade games, including Gauntlet, Joust, Spy Hunter, Road Blasters, Rampage, Marble Madness, Smash TV and Rampart, to name my favourites. The price was right, found it in a bargain bin at Best Buy the day after Christmas for, get this, 8 bucks.

Seems like a lot of companies are getting on this nostalgia bandwagon lately, and I can't say that bothers me. I didn't get to own a lot of these games as a kid, and many of them are really hard to find used. Capcom is apparently doing a Megaman compilation, it would be nice to see Konami do the same with Castlevania. Nintendo has been doing neat things with their older games. The reason I bought Animal Crossing was for the emulated nintendo games your character gets. I think it would be very cool to see Square Enix re-release *all* the Final Fantasies on the GBA, individually or as compilations.

Christmas Gaming Loot: None, yet.

Well, to be precise, I got Monster Rancher 4 for my birthday earlier this month, but I'd bought Fatal Frame 2 for my wife the day before and figured I'd give her a lengthy turn with the PS2 (as I'd hogged it for months before that with Dynasty Warriors 3 and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, both of which are pure gaming gold).

I'd love to pick up either a GBA flash cart or a Gamepark GP32, but I can't really justify the expense right now, so I'm putting both off for a while.

In lieu of crunchy Monster Rancher goodness, I've been on a retrogaming kick lately:

* I dug out my Intellivision and gleefully plowed through a variety of my old games (see relevant thread).

* I dug out my Ultima Collection disc and re-addicted both my wife and myself to Ultima V. (It's nice to have two computers.)

* I downloaded the latest build of NetHack. There goes the neighborhood.

I downloaded a PC version of Puzzle Bobble last week, and have been playing that as well. Not as good as the arcade game, of course, but not bad.

vsp, given that you and your wife both seem to be gaming whores, have you considered the possibility of buying a second PS2 (perhaps used)? Or do you guys not overlap on systems that much?

Since there are five different arcade Puzzle Bobble games available for the PC (via MAME), I'm not in a big rush to download a port...

We've thought about a second PS2, but not for long. In general, we have sufficient toys to play with that we can share and do other things when it's not our turn.

Rho's parents gave us a nice-sized gift cert for Best Buy for Xmas. So, we bought a new printer...and I bought Madden '04.

I haven't played it much this week, but I'm very impressed with the improvements made over the past 3 years. It's like being a real owner, without the real money and headaches.

I'm kicking ass thus far. Playing the Rams with Kurt Warner as QB, we're 6-0...just took off Easy Play for the last game (against Green Bay) and still did pretty good. And because I hate the amount of money that is charged for food and drink at sports venues, I've dropped the prices to very reasonable amounts...like $3 for a beer and $1 for a soda. The Board of Advisors tells me I'm not charging enough, even though we're making money hand over fist...fuck them.

No more new games for a while (probably until spring), though I'm set up for the moment: NHL '04, ATV Offroad Fury 2, GTA3, and Madden '04...I can't complain. :)

Since NetHack is kicking my ass, I started over with Morrowind. I'm forcing myself to abide by at least one major restriction -- no paying Enchanters to _make_ custom items. If I want custom, I have to make it myself.

This makes the game _much_ more playable, as otherwise the equation of:
(money is _very_ easy to accumulate)
+ (when you pay for enchantments, they never fail)
+ (custom enchantments blow the doors off of most pregenerated magic items)
== lets you become SuperCharacter who can rip through anything far too early in the game.

I'd like to say "no trainers" as well, but that will reduce levelling-up to a snail's pace.

Damn, I need a laptop that can play this game...

Y'know, I've played Morrowind on both the PC and Xbox. Everyone says this game is amazing, but I swear I'm missing something. I guess I'm just having a hard time figuring out how to play a game without clearly defined goals. Maybe I'll give it another try tonight.

That's part of its charm, actually, in that you can ignore the "main goal" completely for months and it won't affect your gameplay one bit. It's quite a difference from typical RPGs, most of which severely restrict your travel range, weapons, armor and skills based on what main-quest tasks you've accomplished. (You know, the usual "can't get by the river unless the dam gate is closed, but the king won't do that unless we rescue his daughter, and we can't do that until we find the Amulet of Guacamole, which means we need to visit the Dungeon of Bile and collect the six pieces of the Amulet Locator" convoluted-requirement plotline.) In Morrowind, 99% of the gaming world is open on day 1.

The main quest itself is actually rather straightforward, if you keep at it -- it takes a handful of missions for you to get a decent idea of what your real goal is, but by then you're knee-deep in it. You can end up joining every guild and group there is for tons of side quests, and there are plenty of unaffiliated one-off quests as well.

Now if it just wouldn't crash so often...

I have a Nintendo GameCube that needs selling. It was the greatest, but now that i have a AMD Athlon 2600+. It is no longer needed. Ive heard alot of bad reviews about the gamecube, but it is a great gaming console

Unless you can now play Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness and Smash Bros. Melee on an Athlon system, it and the GC would seem to be complementary.

(Besides, when used Cubes are going for < $100, you won't get much for it.)