Topic: WRUP - What are you playing?

[Najemikon]

I didn't find the last section all that tough, actually. I needed three attempt there, figuring out what needed to be done (where to find the stuff...), but then it went pretty well. I have hopes now that I can actually finish Portal 2

I almost started up Half-Life 2 when I finishged Portal! Another one on my pile-of-shame...

  I meant in context, that the endings were tougher than the puzzles. Portal took me a couple of goes on the ending too, but Portal 2 only needed one go. Actually, I got completely stuck for far longer on a previous level that was doing my head in! But the hardest of all was attempting the Smash TV achievement. There are monitors in the later levels and you should bear in mind that you get an achievement for smashing them all (and the reactions are funny). That'll slow you down! 

Once the Playstation Network is back up I would love to play some co-op. I think the stories don't actually overlap, so we wouldn't have to wait till I am done. I am going to be in Japan next week though, starting Saturday, but maybe next weekend? I heard that having a headset is pretty much a requirement, as some puzzle are rather tough to set up. Heck, they give you a timer of some sorts so that you can time certain actions better You mean you haven't seen the robots even in pictures...? Because, at least one of them is on the cover... But I guess you mean you haven't started up co-op at all yet and therefore haven't seen them in the game.

That's right. I've seen the vids and they look fun to play, but there's no way to actually play them. If you read through the achievements, apparently they use gestures a lot and if you click "Robot Enrichment" on the menu, there are all sorts of options on the way. We should definitely try it (though I haven't actually got a damn headset! ). I'm sure the stories don't overlap actually, as you say, but there is the tiniest of references to the robots in the main story.

[Achim]

I meant in context, that the endings were tougher than the puzzles. Portal took me a couple of goes on the ending too, but Portal 2 only needed one go. Actually, I got completely stuck for far longer on a previous level that was doing my head in! But the hardest of all was attempting the Smash TV achievement. There are monitors in the later levels and you should bear in mind that you get an achievement for smashing them all (and the reactions are funny). That'll slow you down! 

That does make so much more sense I had the same with Portal, that one or two of the earlier puzzle were tougher than the final one (which only gets made more frantic due to the time limit). I mentioned the rocket launcher before...

In Portal 2 I am still early on, I think at the beginning of chapter three.

  Should I attempt the Smash TV achievement on my first playthrough now...?


No headset...? That might make co-op a real tough one in this game. We could still try, of course. Would you be on Steam or PS3? Not sure if text chat would work between Steam and PS3... But several people said that it is needed to communicate in order to solve some of those puzzle mutually.

[Najemikon]

Should I attempt the Smash TV achievement on my first playthrough now...?


No headset...? That might make co-op a real tough one in this game. We could still try, of course. Would you be on Steam or PS3? Not sure if text chat would work between Steam and PS3... But several people said that it is needed to communicate in order to solve some of those puzzle mutually.

If you're finding things relatively straightforward, I'd think about how to smash the monitors as part of the level, but they are in what you might call the "third act" of the game, so a good way into it. Chapter 8, I think. You may prefer to push to the resolution of the story and then replay chapter 8 as I did. Once you know the solutions, you can zip through them...

I'll look into what others are saying about the co-op and try and find a headset!

[Rogmeister]

I recently ordered 3 games for my Nintendo DS and the first arrived yesterday.  It is my first golf game for the system, True Swing Golf.  It was made by Nintendo itself and is a lot of fun even though it has no PGA license.  You can play as a man or a woman and you use the stylus to swing the club backwards and then forwards to hit the ball.  I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

The two games I still have coming: Major League Baseball 2K11 and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.  Has anyone here played the DS versions of Tiger Woods or Madden Football?  If so, would you recommend them and which editions do you have?

[Rogmeister]

I got those other 2 games today.  Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is only my second Nintendo DS game to get an M rating (the other being a Resident Evil game).  I haven't tried it yet but I played a couple of innings of Major League Baseball 2K11 to compare it with the 2K10 version.  It plays and looks and sounds identical to the 2K10 version.  The only difference is a roster update...and it's not totally up-to-date.  I play as the Pittsburgh Pirates and the roster in this game still has some players there the Pirates got rid of after last season and there are some players they did add to their roster that are not there in this game, so I'm a bit disappointed in that.  Too bad this game doesn't allow you to trade players or I could adjust that.

[samuelrichardscott]

Gave away my 360 (with 35000+GS) to my youngest brother last year as I just never had time for games anymore. Picked another one up a few months ago and been playing a few games today. Got 200/200 on New Rally-X, Galaga and Comix Zone, all very easy. Just downloading Axel & Pixel as I type this, also supposed to be easy. Anyway, if anyone wants to 'friend' me on the 360 my GT is: bprsam

[Eric]

WRUP?

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.  I know it's almost an oldie now but since I don't have a game console I always to wait for the PC versions to be released.   Which actually brings up a question, since the xbox uses direct x and is essentially a PC, why do PC versions come up so much time after the xbox 360 releases ?

[RossRoy]

I'Ve always wondered that myself, but since I play mostly on Xbox360, I don't actually care all that much 

But if I had to guess, I'd say it's money (Microsoft putting money down to ensure Xbox gets released first) or hardware compatibility. Must be much easier to make the game run smooth on a set, always the same, group of hardware component, as opposed to optimizing it for PC, where you have to take into account all those batshit insane number of hardware combinations.

Also, maybe they need time to optimize the engine for PC. PC can run at much higher resolution, so maybe they need the artist to work on higher res textures and stuff.

I like how they handled Dragon Age II in that sense. The disc itself has the same content, whether on PC, Xbox of PS3. Then, in between the time the game was certified "gold" and sent to presses, the team worked on a texture update that could be downloaded on release day for PC.

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That being, I'm now replaying Knights of the Old Republic. I even got my good ol' big black box (original XBOX) out to play it (it was too choppy on the 360 - and I hate the controls on PC version).

[Eric]

That being, I'm now replaying Knights of the Old Republic. I even got my good ol' big black box (original XBOX) out to play it (it was too choppy on the 360 - and I hate the controls on PC version).

I don't understand this.  The game plays better on your older box ?

[Najemikon]

That being, I'm now replaying Knights of the Old Republic. I even got my good ol' big black box (original XBOX) out to play it (it was too choppy on the 360 - and I hate the controls on PC version).

I don't understand this.  The game plays better on your older box ?

Happens a lot. Games are written to optimally use the technology of the time. When you go back to them, you find the tech can now be too good for them. Imagine putting a Formula 1 engine in a Model T Ford. How long will the chassis hold up at 200mph? Not very, I'm guessing!

A clearer example are those emulator programs you can get for the PC that allow you to play classic console games from the Spectrum and SNES days. Normally you have to install a utility that essentially throttles your CPU, because they go so fast it's merely a blur.

[samuelrichardscott]

Finished up Axel & Pixel on the 360 (200/200 scored) and played Baja 1000 for a few hours today. The controls are quite poor and as a racing game, it's not that good but I am yet to come across a decent off-road game.

[Rogmeister]

A day or two ago, I played just a minute or two each of LEGO Batman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold on my DS to get an idea what they're like.  They both seem fun.  I may need to read a bit on LEGO Batman to figure out all the controls and what exactly you're supposed to be doing.  Batman: The Brave and the Bold has a neat feature in that in the first round, they show you what certain buttons do while you're playing.  In this game, you eventually get the help of other super-heroes.  Yesterday, I bought Goldeneye 007 but haven't tried it out yet.  Maybe later today...

[RossRoy]

That being, I'm now replaying Knights of the Old Republic. I even got my good ol' big black box (original XBOX) out to play it (it was too choppy on the 360 - and I hate the controls on PC version).

I don't understand this.  The game plays better on your older box ?

Happens a lot. Games are written to optimally use the technology of the time. When you go back to them, you find the tech can now be too good for them. Imagine putting a Formula 1 engine in a Model T Ford. How long will the chassis hold up at 200mph? Not very, I'm guessing!

A clearer example are those emulator programs you can get for the PC that allow you to play classic console games from the Spectrum and SNES days. Normally you have to install a utility that essentially throttles your CPU, because they go so fast it's merely a blur.

What Jon said. And essentially, Original Xbox games are emulated on 360, so it's pretty much hit and miss. Some games run really smooth, while others are choppy as hell. Load times from disc also seem a bit longer on the 360 than they are on Original Xbox.

And, as an added bonus, my Xbox is chipped, so I can play KotOR from the hard drive! (which the 360 cannot do for original xbox games - unless you buy them as "Xbox Originals" on Live)

[RossRoy]

CAN. NOT. WAIT.

[Achim]

CAN. NOT. WAIT.

ME. TOO.


It's is not an action game though, as the trailer would have you believe. It's a detective game with some action scenes thrown in. At least that's what I reckon from the information I collected over the past few months.