ginji

Sorry guys, is there any patch for the Xbox 360 version?

Yes, Labadal! It is it! Thank you very very much!!!

I just can't find it anywhere. I seen this video with a link from this forum, but I can't find it. It showed three Obsidian devs talking from behind a desk to the press, showing the whole history of "choices" in videogames since very old games (things like Ultima or something like that). Then they went deep in the work behind the choices system in the game, talking about Sie and how much work a simple choice requires between animating, dubbing etc. It was incredibly interesting, actually I want to save it on my PC but I can't find it anywhere in the web... maybe because I don't know how to search for it Anyway, can someone please help me?

Agreed. But the thing is that they won't stop here. If this "no used-online" thing goes and becomes accepted by the majority of gamers, it will become the "standard" and they will go worse and worse. Why would this happen, exactly? The publisher asking for a small fee for online content for used games is a pretty straight forward and sensible idea. How would it actually go worse? Publishers first selling you a game and then charging extra for the online part? In my opinion this would only work if they lowered the price for the offline game, making online gaming basically DLC. I have nothing against this. We already have DRM, so this wouldn't change that. This is just publishers wanting a cut from the used games market, and rightfully so since Gamestop et al are reaping profits by selling games twice while the publisher has to maintain the online content for those gamers who've bought their games used. I think you're barking at the wrong tree here. Gamestop & similar chains are the ones to blame since they're profiting from content the publisher has to pay the upkeep for. As already stated, this wouldn't affect games without online content (for the time being at least). It's a legitimate concern that it might, but at the time being there's nothing to imply it would. Other than the general dislike the posters here seem to have against all publishers that is Oh, but i blame&hate Gamestop already that's why i said I almost only buy new, but from online stores and for 1/3 of what they ask for. What I'm saying is that they want to cut used gamers, and this is the first step. DRMs have the same purpose (between online activation and all, not to mention Ubisoft games that.... heh...) and so is Digital Delivery. It's not only the online content, i would be happy with that since I play offline only (and maybe I could get the game for a lower price without having to wait 6 months). The fact is they want to cut every other choice you have, by forcing you to buy the game for the price they say or nothing. That's what Digital Delivery is here for, to cut the market and to give games at one and only one price, and to prevent you to do any of the other horrible, horrible things with what you buy (like borrowing or reselling it). Maybe I'm too pessimistic, but the videogames market is the only one that doesn't favor the customer, but keeps on including more and more restrictive things to what you pay for. Again, the point is this: if someone buys used it's because he can't afford 60 bucks for every game. In this cases, normally, you should cut down prices, not features.

Agreed. But the thing is that they won't stop here. If this "no used-online" thing goes and becomes accepted by the majority of gamers, it will become the "standard" and they will go worse and worse. Like they're already doing with DRM on PC, where you have to be online for activating, can't play on many computers, have to stay online all the time and so on, depending on the game/publisher. They take it one step at a time, so this is a very worrying trend.

I could be wrong but I think the solution is incredibly easy. I NEVER buy day-one. I hate Gamestop but i do a lot of videogame shopping via online stores. Why? Because I can't afford 60 Euros. That's it. I buy games, NEW (so my money should go to THQ too... actually, I don't have or like any of their games, but this is another story) for 20-30 Euros, by waiting a couple of months. The only game I've bought day-one in this generation was Ninja Gaiden 2, because it was close to my birthday (and because i love it). If games were sold for 40€ instead of 60€, i could buy day one much more. The used-games market is so simple: people buy used because 60 bucks for a game is a crazy price. That's it. They make it sound like I'm pirating games I'm not stealing anything, but I don't have a money tree in my living room. If that means I have to wait for 5-6 months before I can play with a game, I'm happy with that. They're always selling, after all, and even a sell 6 months away from day-one counts. To make this very short: dear THQ, want the gamers to buy new? Lower that damn price.

If we talk about bugs, my experience with Mass Effect 2 and Fallout 3 was horrible. In ME2 I just finished a mission that the game made me start directly from halfway through the whole first 10/15 minutes were cut, don't know why (and I hope it won't happen again). Not to talk about the saves corruption, the mission and NPC errors etc. (still, I liked that game very much and I'm replaying it for the second time). And Fallout 3? Oh, i hated that game. Freezes, disappearing NPCs, random weapons bugs, disappearing dog for no apparent reason, i got stuck with the scenery many times, and many other things I don't even want to remember. And no reviewer told me about this. Actually, both games received 9 and 10 everywhere. I don't care about reviews anymore, but I don't think they're fair by judging different games with different mentality... I mean, they should be professionals. But this isn't enough to give a bad score. If a game isn't for everyone, it should be a plus! I agree the reviews should be aimed to everyone, but that's where the ability of the reviewer comes in. To tell what's good and what's bad in the review's text, and to judge the game for what it is, and not because some fat kid can't stand some dialogue (or can't understand a Shoot'em Up, or an arcade racing without tuning options). I mean, a game like ICO is an incredibly niche game, should they give it 2 or 3? It's a masterpiece. I'm talking generically, of course. I STILL don't have Alpha Protocol (shame on me, I know). For what I know, it could be complete garbage P.S: I hope my english is good enough...

28 May

Well, I've done almost everything, but I have no idea how I managed to get 76 hours, too (I've completed the first ME in less than 40 hours). Personally, I think that an rpg MUST be long. It's not only because rpgs are "epic" (I suggest to play Steambot Chronicles, a wonderful PS2 game that isn't absolutely epic but lasted MONTHS on my console!), but also because they're the only genre that can give this kind of experience. To be clear, games nowadays are becoming shorter and shorter, so if I want to seriously immerse myself in some gaming world I only have RPGs.

Il took me 76 hours to complete Mass Effect 2 (how did you get it done in just 16 hours? ). 20-30 hours will mean at least 50 for me, on my first playthrough only. It sounds awesome to me ^^

!!! Awesome!

Yes, that's a little weird actually. I don't think he was missing headshots, since he says clearly how to perform an headshot at the beginning of the preview (standing still and waiting to aim). But it's not that important. I got the feeling, though, that he sees the game for an action with RPG elements. And this worries me. I mean, i hope the game is not only a receive mission - go to Saudi Arabia/Rome/Russia - kill everyone - talk to the boss, in loop. I want to do things that involves a lot of talking but without having to shoot someone, like going to a caf

Another Preview (this one is in Italian). They say the good things are the RPG component and the dialog system, that can be almost "revolutionary" with its branching storyline and different endings. The bad things.... everything else. Outated graphics, dumb AI, controls, clich

Well, I've only played demo of the last 2 Splinter Cell games (even if I absolutely loved the series until Chaos Theory), but for what I've seen I think that Double Agent actually looks better than Conviction...

I don't think any "professional" reviewer will ever play an RPG for more than 3 hours before reviewing it

Alone in the Dark, if i remember correctly, has one Save slot. And Sonic Unleashed. And Mirror's Edge. And The Darkness. And Lost Planet. And a thousand of other games XD But RGPs always have many save slots ^^ just in case you lose a save game after 60+ hours of gameplay...

Naaah, even Ubisoft does that with its games (even BIG ones like Assassin's Creed 2), they don't permit reviews before day-one if they're not above 9.0 or something like that. For Batman: Arkham Asylum it was the same. And Tomb Raider. And, well, maybe everyone else. It's not that they have no confidence, it's just that publishers have really, really, really awful ways to handle this kind of thing. Like the majority of the buyers really go on Metacritic before buying... please. It's all a matter of hype and Ads, then you can sell everything. I think the numer of people really persuaded to buy or let go a game based only on a review is really low, compared to the overrall sales.

Characters and other things are more or less the same. I'm talking mostly about the enviroments, that snowy stage (around 2:00) was clearly from the PS2 era, and even inside the building there were few polygons and flat textures. I don't know how this enviroment is now, but the videos they released more recently showed levels with a little more detail.

Hmmm, "earlier" the game was much worse in the graphic department. Just look at this old video, around 2:00. The enviroment reminds of the first Splinter Cell without his shadow engine, actually is horrible. The game started to look pretty just recently (with, finally, some decent textures and lightning), I don't think I would have received THAT graphics more "warmly" before Nice preview, I want this game so badly!

I didn't knew the term "zerging" Reminds me of Starcraft. Well but, if it has difficulty levels, this can be easily addressed. Agree!

I would have preferred it to be dubbed in my language, now I only hope that these damn subtitles are readable on my SDTV without having to sit 2cm away and burn my eyes just to read "Aggressive" Anyway, nice footage. And very very dumb AI! I can't remember, does this game have different difficulty settings?

In contrast to the swords and magic of the olden days? Well, i was referring to this generation in general... the majority of games requires you to take cover and shoot everything; Mass Effect 2 has become a third person shooter more than an RPG, and even an "adventure" like Alan Wake seem to have an awful lot of shooting sequences (I hope it doesn't). Alpha Protocol is a game in this trend, with his third person shooter in it, but luckily it seems to be a bit more RPG at his heart.

Alpha Protocol is the RPG version of Mass Effect. [/irony mode off] I think it's a "normal" western-rpg at his heart, with a lot of shooting (this generation demands shooting to everything) and a lot of choices. It has Mass Effect in it, yes, but also Splinter Cell. Actually, maybe Alpha Protocol is the RPG version of Mass Effect and the stealth version of the last Splinter Cell :D

Even if I hated that game, 5 or 6 different endings seem like a great amount to me! Yes, they claimed 200, but now we're used to this fake statements.... Even if 32 endings end up being like 4 or 5 different ones... hell, I can play the game 5 times just for the ending! How can they be too few?! Most games have just one ending, and many don't even have one!

So it will be one of those games like every other game? You're right, reviews nowadays just seem to give super-high scores to hyped games and then vent their "repressed anger" to any non-AAA title. Being a reviewer for a big site must be the easiest job on earth! Needless to say, I just didn't bother reading reviews for the last 2-3 years and enjoyed many bashed games (like Sonic The Hedgehog or Wartech: Senko No Ronde, for example), even if they have their flaws, of course (and I hated "great" ones like Fallout 3). But I would have missed many games I liked if I would have trusted these damn reviews. (I hope the english in this post is good enough)