Pope

It's all about destiny vs coincidence vs free will. At least that's what it's supposed to be about. To be honest I still don't have a clue. And mostly it's not the survivors who do the weird stuff. It's the Island.

Hmm, I've been pondering something. If the doc's body arrived on the Island before it was even thrown into the water, how much of a stretch would it be to assume Oceanic 815 crashed on the Island before it even hit turbulence? And if Desmond failing to push the button somehow moved the Island, thereby disabling 815 from ever reaching it (whilst "at the same time" it was already there), what would happen to the 815 in turbulence? Crash in the middle of the ocean with 324 dead bodies inside perhaps?

It's better than in San Andreas, but nothing can ever equal Vice City's soundtrack.

Claire was very off-character this episode, for the few seconds we've seen her. Why the Hell was she just chillin' in the cabin, seemingly not worried about her son at all?

They're going to move the Island in time. To the exact moment the Oceanic 6 return. Mark my words, this season's finale will feature the O6 getting both off and back to the Island. Oh, and Claire is dead.

I just found a car Stevie (Brucie's friend) is looking for. What do I do with it?

I got run over by a train on my first try. It hit me in the back while I was shooting the cops. Second try was no problem. When I had to clear my wanted level I was certain I wasn't going to make it with 5 stars. I stole one of those cop humvees, and all of a sudden I noticed I was out of the detection zone. So I just waited a few secs and the stars were gone. I've had times when I had more trouble getting rid of 2 stars. Hell of a mission! I kept a save just prior to it so I can enjoy it again and again. On a sidenote, I'm finally starting to get the hang of the vehicle physics. It sure took some getting used to compared to the previous installments, but now I'm finding it a lot more fun. You actually have to think which brakes to use.

So what console are you guys on then? I'm guessing mostly 360's here. Not that it matters now, my PS3 isn't connected yet.

Concerning multiplay: can PS3 owners hook up with 360 owners?

Hmm people always complain about my lack of replying properly irl too. I hate mail. Thx.

Dammit where is the gay guy? He says to meet him at 18:00 at 69th Street Diner, but he ain't there!

So are there any GTA-style garages in GTA4?

Ain't Jacob supposed to eliminate the hassle of going to weapon shops?

What's gamey about a garage? Maybe there are none in downtown NY/LC, but Mikhail's place (near the carnival) has a garage. So why can't I buy a safehouse with a garage? While we're at it, the Sunshine Autos showroom was yet another example of VC's supreme awesomeness.

I don't remember very much from GTA3's radio shows. I know there was a classical music station that was awesome to listen to while driving your truck over pedestrians in the park. VC's radio shows on the other hand, I know almost every line by heart. Maurice Chavez ftw! That guy is still unmatched. In San Andreas, I laughed most at the German house dj. Wasn't quite a fan of the hiphop stations, but the country station was really fun in a bizarre way. In the end however, SA's 90's couldn't match VC's 80's imo. Currently I'm cracking myself up at the psychic medium in GTA4. Don't know which station she's on though. And the WeKnowTheTruth station sounds like it could be the next Maurice. On the musical side, ElectroChoc is the way to go.

I predict the next GTA game will be located in a revamped Los Santos. And the one after that in Las Venturas. They can skip San Fiero for all I care, that was a pretty boring city. Btw, somehow this reminds me: anyone heard the commercial for the CSI parody, The Science of Crime? It's hilarious!

Durlag's Tower ftw

Especially since the reward (the ogre mage right?) can be accessed through the halfling village without the hassle of the dungeon. Sure is a nice place to collect fire arrows though. Thinking about BG makes me want to replay it.

I doubt any future GTA game will ever leave the same impression, or last with me as long as Vice City did. The improvements it had over GTA3 were everything I could possibly wish for (motorbikes!, helicopters and planes, costumes, buyable assets!, interiors, flat tires, shooting through windshields, exiting moving vehicles, incredible 80's soundtrack, hilarious conversations and commercials on the radio, a city with atmosphere, a voice and personality for the main character!), and the whole Scarface inspired story was the most satisfying out of all PS2 GTA's. VC was a very coherent game, and by the end it really felt as if the city was yours, adding to the Scarface feel. San Andreas added a lot more little things (bicycles, parachutes, character customizability, countryside, waypoint on the map, bringing along gang members, a bunch of minigames, moving while crouched, swimming!!), but it failed to have the same impact on me as VC. The radio stations were fun, but not nearly as hilarious as VC's. As mentioned by pixies above, the biggest gripe with it was probably that it was difficult to take the game world seriously. The whole gangsta setting wasn't very appealing to start with, but when the plot began taking all sorts of crazy turns the game started feeling a bit incoherent, and the immersion quickly disappeared. I never felt like I had fought my way to the top like in VC. It seems that with GTA4, Rockstar's priority was improving user-friendliness (mission retry, autosave, cabs, gps, cellphone). I definitely give them credit for it. For what it's worth, removing some of those little things does indeed add to the immersion. But still I miss the bikes and the buyable assets. PS: thank you ragdolls, driving over pedestrians has never been this much fun.

I found a "flying rat" near the Statue of Happiness that I shot with my sniper rifle, after which I got the message "199 flying rats left in Liberty City", so I'm guessing those are the new hidden packages. I really do miss the bicycles. I loved the trick in San Andreas where you could jump super-high when firing your weapon quickly after jumping. I was able to jump through the donut hoops that way A question: are there still parachutes? I'd love to base jump off one of those skyscrapers.

That's lame! In many ways, this game feels like a step down from San Andreas. I mean it's fun, and a lot more user friendly than previous installments (love the cabs and the auto-save), but they left many things out. I guess they need some stuff to improve upon in the next PS3 GTA... That being said,

Where are the bicycles?? I loved those things in San Andreas, but GTAIV doesn't seem to have them.

Ocarina of Time was Gamespot's first 10. Anyway, I got drunk last night (for real) and decided that wasn't the best way to start the game. And now I have a paper to write, so hopefully tonight I'll get around to playing some. Why did I have to go and buy that thing less than 2 months before graduation.

I just bought a PS3 + GTAIV. I feel dirty. And poor. And I only got it because the protagonist is named after me. Now that's immersion.

Hmm, interesting. I havent noticed anything that would indicate that. Can you elaborate on what he said and how he said it that leads you to that theory? Widmore: "Are you here to kill me Benjamin?" Ben: "We both know I can't do that." However, this seems to imply "the rules" more than Widmore possibly being immortal. Why else would Widmore even ask? Also, Widmore: "I know who you are boy. What you are. I know that everything you have you took from me." To me this indicates he's either Dharma or a native like Richard. And Richard seems to have lived for a long time already.