Entertainment/Gaming Consoles

Yeah, I took care of him. I did it the obvious way - sprinted over to his ass, blew him away, took his getaway car and broke records for "getting the fuck away".

I've actually gotten a lot of missions done for Joey, but I pretty much skipped that goddamn laundromat truck one because it was fucking me up so bad.

One of my favorites was the getaway with the body in the trunk. I knew something was gonna be up ('cause they wouldn't put that simple a mission at that point in the game), but I wasn't sure what. When I saw a guy in the car sitting in the parking lot I figured he was a baddie. So, I parked my car in front of him, grabbed the car with the body and tried to make my getaway. I didn't make it the first two times, but on the second one I managed to find a way to lose the dudes following you every time, guaranteed (or at least it worked for me the two times I tried it). Go up that grass bit on the left and just fucking ramp, but kinda hit it on the right. They'll hit it on the right too and wreck their car, but you go left and then just haul ass across all the medians and whatnot.

Yeah, I didn't win the first el Burro mission, which was that first race. I had a Diablo car (hehe), but it fuckin' sucked ass. My current favorite is the Mafia Sentinel, but those are a bitch to get and it's hard to keep them in a decent condition after you do ('cause you're getting rammed by other mafia dudes). Ugh. Still, it's a pretty slick car all around.

Where can I pick up a Fire Truck? Man, I love taxi-ing. Hehe.

[vsp]

Yep, in Dead Skunk in the Trunk, that's a Forelli brother sitting in the parking lot. So instead of blocking him in, park a nice big car right next to his and BLOW IT UP! You can't blow up the Forelli vehicle directly (i.e. with your own weapons), but the explosion from another car will carry over, and voila, one less Forelli to outrun.

Better yet, let the Forellis whack you from behind until your trunk falls off. The corpse will be visible. (Pity that it's a Manana, or I'd keep it.)

Mafia Sentinels are actually among the easiest cars to get, if you know how (or, more properly, where). Go to the top of the hill in Saint Mark's, and take the offroad path leading to a large mansion. There are two Mafia Sentinels (free of charge and unlocked) in front of this building at all times. That should give you a hint as to whose mansion that is, but the big Don doesn't believe in car alarms... They're reasonable all-around vehicles, but there are certainly better ones.

The Fire Truck is in the north end of Portland -- Harwood, I think. It's not too far from the auto dealership (where you can usually steal a Banshee, which is lightning-quick) and across from the gas station. Grab it, turn on the vehicle missions, and you'll get to drive recklessly around Portland putting out car fires. The type of car that you extinguish is randomly generated -- you can get good stuff like Cheetahs, Stingers, Yakuza Stingers, Infernuses, etc., or oddball vehicles like the Mr. Whoopee ice cream van or the Trashmaster. Again, the Stingers are highly recommended for Turismo, as they handle and powerslide like a dream and have a good top speed, though it may take a lot of missions to find one.

Oh yeah -- complete 100 taxi missions (not in a row) for a pleasant surprise...

Yes, I've had the visible course. My first run, actually. I managed to get to the squashing facility with a battered car but they took me out somehow. I forget exactly how it happened.

Man, I can't wait to get home and play now. I think I need to take tomorrow off and just stay home and play games. God that would be a good day. Kinda like every Saturday. Hehe.

[jennofay]

im weaning myself back in... any objections, voice them now.



personally, the only realy game i consistantly enjoy is tetris. i dont know why. probably because its sort of somewhat kind of educational. i have tetris worlds for game boy advance, only game i own. it was a birthday present, and an enjoyable one. unlike the dangly (sp?) cat earrings my aunt bought me...

i enjoy playing soul calibur. it is good fun. i like watching people play more though, because i suck at video games. and its no fun when you are getting your ass kicked EVERY TIME you play against someone. i have beat soul calibur a few times, though, so im not completely frustrated with that yet.

ill admit it, i can be a sore loser.

tony hawk's pro skater 3 seems pretty fun from what ive played of it so far. i even made my own character. thats neat. but i havent played it enugh to know if im going to hate it yet.

as far as grand theft auto goes... just watching david play it has warped my driving ability. i dont think i could ever play it, because im afraid one day out on the beltway ill slip into game mode and jump out of my car and start beating the crap out of some asshole.

not that they wouldnt deserve it.

Man, I just busted out a 140,000+ point grind combo on the Airport level in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Damn that was a fine ass move. 4 manuals, a ton of grinds and a "Sick!" score. Daaaaaaaaaamn right.

I think I want to concentrate on Tony Hawk for a while, but every once in a while just take a day and play Grand Theft Auto 3. Like. Saturday. Man. I didn't get to play it tonight, mainly because I had a Quake 1v1 match (I won) and then I played Tony Hawk 3. But I'm definitely looking forward to putting some time into it pretty soon. Thinking about taking Friday off and getting some rest and playing some games. Long weekends are nice and I have almost 3 weeks of vacation in the bank.... Hmmmmmmmmmm.

So after I beat GTA3 like 400 times and I'm the master of Metal Gear Solid 2, what are some other good games for PS2?

[vsp]

Other PS2 joys:

If you're into racing, Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec will be your poison of choice. Ultra-realistic auto racing with all the bells and whistles, though a steering wheel controller may help (I haven't tried it myself). Alternatives in the need-for-speed realm include Burnout (which challenges you to drive as dangerously as possible without wrecking, rewarding you with speed boots for close shaves) and SSX Tricky (downhill racing on snowboards).

For straight-up action, Devil May Cry is an adrenaline rush, Twisted Metal: Black is the first Twisted Metal worthy of the name since the second one on PS1, and State of Emergency is an immensely fun (if shallow) Final Fight-style beat-em-up. Onimusha is structurally similar to Devil May Cry and can be found for less.

For some run-and-gun platforming fun, Jak & Daxter has gotten solid reviews (your standard 3D run-and-collect-the-objects Crash Bandicoot clone). A lot of people liked Maximo; a lot of critics liked Klonoa 2, and everybody liked Rayman 2. Silent Hill 2, Fatal Frame and Soul Reaver 2 are more Resident Evil-ish and dark.

There's still not that much in RPG-land. Final Fantasy X is the big dog, of course, and I'm not a huge FF fan so I didn't get it. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance was reviewed well. Shadow of Destiny is a quirky RPG with more conversation than action -- it's short, but has multiple ending paths.

For fighting games, there's Virtua Fighter 4, and then there's Virtua Fighter 4. Accept no substitutes.

There's Metal Gear Solid 2, which has its legions of devotees.

And in the What Were They Thinking? category, consider Frequency (music-rhythm action), Rez (a tripped-out polygon shooter that's major eye candy), Gitaroo-Man (points for sheer freakiness) and Mr. Mosquito (which would have to work VERY HARD to be any less twisted).

My own library: Silent Hill 2, Devil May Cry, GTA3, State of Emergency, VF4, Fatal Frame, Monster Rancher 3.

I currently have just <b>Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty</b> and <b>Grand Theft Auto 3</b> for PS2. They're definitely good so far. It should keep me tied up for a good while. I don't have a whole lot of time to play video games, unfortunately. Work + Jenni (jennofay) + sleep + chores around the house + the need to eat != lots of free time. Oh well.

For Xbox I have <b>Halo</b>, <b>Dead or Alive 3</b>, <b>Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding</b>, <b>Project Gotham Racing</b>, <b>Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x</b>, <b>Rallisport Challenge</b> and <b>Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3</b> (in order that I bought them). <b>Silent Hill 2</b> is sitting at my house but it's Chris' (cornelius). Personally, I enjoy all of the games I have on Xbox (or I wouldn't have bought them), but Tony Hawk 3 is just like heroin. Seriously, it's just purely addictive. Man. I can't describe how amazing that game is. It's just one of those games that I can't put down. I went to bed at like 4 AM last night. All Tony Hawk. I don't really have time to play anything other than Tony Hawk Plus, I've already beaten the hell out of Dead or Alive.

Rallisport is definitely a very cool racer. It's on loan to a friend of mine right now, but I'll get it back probably tomorrow. Doesn't matter. I'm not going to play it. TH3 baby

Amped is also pretty addictive. It's like Tony Hawk on a snowboard. Except it's not quite <b>that</b> good. Don't get me wrong, it's a seriously seriously great game and before I had Tony Hawk on my Xbox (have always had him on my Dreamcast), that's just about all I played. But... TH3.

You seriously oughta rent it and try to get into it. I can't think of a more satisfying game. After busting out that awesome run on Airport last night (and ending up with like 360,000 points after my 140,000 point combo), I felt like I had been watching Jesus Christ on a skateboard. I was pumped. I was in awe. It's just one of those games. Man.

[vsp]

I think my problem with Tony Hawk is the theme, not the game. I just can't picture myself playing a skateboarding game, because I've seen far too many skateboarders with the IQ of dental floss.

(You know the ones -- there are probably half-a-dozen in your neighborhood, too. They hang out on street corners, jumping up and down on their boards viciously, jamming them into the curbs, and that's ALL THEY DO. No tricks, no ramps, no using them to get somewhere, just flailing and jumping on their boards in an apparent attempt to break them in half.)

Vehicular stunts? I'll take GTA3. Instead of intricate skateboard tricks, I can drive an ice cream van off the top of a parking garage, do a flip and a rotation in mid-air, and land it squarely on top of a granny crossing the street. And THEN get out of the car and pick up the money she dropped. Now, THAT'S COMEDY!

It's not really about it being a skateboarding game though. That's just the vehicle. I'm no big fan of skateboarding or skateboarding games - except Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. There's just something about them. I guess you have to have played them to understand

I did a pretty cool trick in GTA3 the other day - I flipped the car, rotated it I think once and then landed perfectly. The game told me it was a "perfect insane jump" or something, so I was happy.

[jeni]

dude, paul got 15,000 i think once for a triple insane stunt bonus. in the second city, there is a parking garage you can get a good jump off of. man i want to tell you all the cool stuff. dammit!

[vsp]

Muahahaha. There are insane stunt jumps, and then there are INSANE stunt jumps...

There are twenty Unique Stunt Jumps scattered around Liberty City (eight in Portland, though some are somewhat inaccessible at first). When you hit one of those, the camera goes slo-mo and you get a big cash bonus on your first successful landing. As a free hint, the first one is near your Portland hideout -- look for a concrete wedge near the water and the overhead railway tracks. Look at the long straightaway leading up to that concrete wedge. Look at how the wedge points up and over the railway bridge. Do the math.

As for your garden-variety insane stunts, there are criteria for jump distance, jump rotation and flips. If you surpass one of them, you get an Insane Stunt Bonus. Two, and you get a Double Insane Stunt Bonus; three gets a Triple. If you land squarely, you can get a Perfect (1,2,3x) Insane Stunt Bonus, which adds to the bounty somewhat.

The game can be picky as to what constitutes a perfect landing (or even when it'll give you an insane bonus at all), but vehicular mayhem is half the fun of the game -- the vehicles are generally quite replaceable, so it's a blast just to drive around and see how horrendously you can jump and crash them.

Now, the MOTHER OF ALL INSANE JUMPS is extremely difficult to pull off, and even more difficult to survive without cheating, but it's worth seeing at least once. There's a jump in Chinatown that can put your car up on the overhead railway tracks. If you get there in one piece, you can maneuver your car to a certain position and wait for the train to hit it. Sometimes you're just knocked off the tracks, sometimes you're wedged INTO the tracks... but once in a blue moon, the train hits you JUST right and your car is launched into the sky, spinning like a top. If you aim it right, you can get hit in Portland and land in Staunton Island!

Jen, I think you need to come home and play GTA3 with me. One thing I'm pretty good at is outrunning cops. The other is running over people.

Oh yeah, I'm also real ballsy. I'll carjack a cab right in front of a cop. I've also tried carjacking cop cars with the cops still inside, but this never works. Any tips?

[tokenidiot]

shoot the cop car first and then hit triangle. that'll get them out, and you can get in before they touch you because actions queue. then you can smash the bodies over and over again!
another fun thing to do is to steal a police car from the station (hit the car door with another car to unlock it) and then drive around the city dishing out police brutality. drug dealers, older women; everyone ends up getting a baseball bat to the face.

[tokenidiot]

jeni's fun to play GTA3 with.
she's the only reason i beat one of the later missions. i sat there moping and complaining until she finally marked the map for me and told me exactly where to find each of the dozen or so landmarks i had to find. best girl ever? yes.

Man, as I was running away from the station after getting busted once, I saw this cop car come speeding and mow down like 10 people on the sidewalk before speeding off. I started laughing

That's a good tip about unlocking the cop car How hard do you have to hit it? I wouldn't want to damage it too much. hehe