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Everything posted by ShadowPaladin V1.0
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Take a look at this http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/produc...booster_-_black I've managed to get by with two cards , but I probably dont keep as many saves as most people.
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Sucks to own a
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Higher game prices for the next gen consoles you say? This is so predictable. Every time a new round of consoles starts to appear on the horizon publishers see a little window of opportunity to sneak in some price-raising shenanigans on software to cash in on the loyalty of frenzied early adopters who'd happily shell out top dollar to get the latest gaming kit, along with the top games for them. Last time out when retailers got a bit bored with making a 12 quid profit margin, they slashed the prices down to the sub GBP 30 mark following the lead of one-time retail giant Virgin, and game sales soared and rescued the otherwise fairly humdrum summer of '99. During the rest of that console generation prices never went back up, and although the unit sales increases were pretty impressive, the actual revenues were, shall we say, a little static. This price 'promotion' (as it was dubbed optimistically at the time to fool punters into believing they were getting a special deal) was little more than a cynical, but well-intentioned attempt to force the price of these disproportionately high priced entertainment items down to a more sellable level. Retailers love shifting units, especially the non-specialists that traditionally make their money off impulse-priced items like audio disks and videos; to them, games have always seemed over-priced. They don't tend to buy the argument that you get more hours for your bucks out of games. He started it. That guy. Publishers were not amused and really took a pounding. Retailers, though, used their power to maintain their margins and all was looking good. Gamers were getting a better deal into the bargain. But then with the release of the PS2 in November 2000 game prices crept back almost up to their previous levels and stayed there until relatively recently. But that wasn't the end of the publisher-retailer battle. A few renegade high retailers tried the same trick that Virgin tried in '99, notably Argos in Christmas 2003 and 2004, but the dominant retailers such as GAME kept their resolve until just a few weeks ago. Having slowly seen their (frankly enormous) market share chipped away at by aggressive retailers (notably the online sector), the group decided enough was enough and promptly kicked off an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" price campaign that has - surprise surprise - lasted well beyond its initial 10-day run. The thing is, it's not likely to change either, with other retailers forced to match their prices or face being completely frozen out by savvy bargain-hungry customers. This leaves publishers in a precarious position once again, with profit margins in the world's third biggest games territory (around 30 per cent of all European revenues, remember) being slashed to the bone in order to keep their retail relationships intact. In this situation it's rarely the retailer that suffers, and don't they know it. The massively increased demand caused by these price promotions proves all too well that consumers respond eagerly to the prospect of cheaper games, and many of the less dominant publishers are in a difficult bargaining position when trying to desperately offload poor-selling titles. Malcolm the marine: an expensive date. And, let's be honest here, most games that get released are poor-selling. The games industry's entire economic model is built on big hits bailing out the proliferation of quickly forgotten flops. Just looking at the Chart-Track sales reports proves that, but unfortunately copyright restrictions and the prospect of negative PR makes doing that very difficult for any gaming publication. But take our word for it. There are some scary statistics out there that would make any caring gamer wince at the injustice that goes on in the nether regions of the charts. So the news today that several big name publishers including THQ, Take-Two and Activision are eyeing up a $59.99 price point (and we all know from bitter experience that means fifty quid even despite the current exchange rate) for next-generation games follows in this predictable pattern of old. Wait for the current gen to reach critical mass, then hit the early adopter with a premium price point and never lower it until determined retailer pressure eventually brings it crashing down again. Don't you just love cycles? But although its hard to argue that the cost of game development is rising all the time, is the industry poised to shoot itself in the foot again and put off literally millions of gamers from buying into the next-generation machines until sanity is restored on the high street? Having invested a bigger than usual sum on a next-gen console, memory cards, extra joypads, leads and all the peripheral junk we end up buying, the last thing we need on top is the prospect of being stung for our loyalty by extra-expensive games into the bargain. What are they thinking? Is this a deliberate ploy to halt the growth of the industry? Sometimes it really feels like that. Heavenly Sword: one of the few confirmed next-gen games. As online retailer Simply Games' managing director Doug Bone told Eurogamer: "As superior technology comes along, the creative potential (and associated development costs) inevitably also rise accordingly. While this is not an obstacle for the early adopter, we need to be careful to ensure that any price hike (e.g. between PS2 and PS3 games) is backed up by the quality of product the customer gets. A price hike purely because publishers 'can' won't help." Indeed. It really does appear as if publishers have adopted this thinking literally because they "can" and because "we've done it before". But there is a way out for publishers, and that's if they come good on the suspected pledge of only raising the prices on premium product, i.e. the magical "triple A" product we always hear about but rarely find when we open the boxes. The trouble is, a lot of publishers have egos the size of the moon and believe most of their half-baked average games are worthy of the AAA label. So expect another characteristic pattern to emerge in the next gen: Game X goes on sale at full price. Game X sells next to nothing. Game X price slashed to clear stock. Repeat to fade. Is that what we want? Is the industry ever going to learn or do we simply have to keep making the same mistakes over and over again like a demented, hapless goldfish? http://eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=58303
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Which one is Susan ?
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Rescuing Master Vrook from Dantooine
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to mrgrieves's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
Following a guide is a bad idea it will often omit something minor but ultimately important. Especially when it comes to event triggers. Oh If I had a -
I used to have such a crush on Ace.
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What ending would you have liked to see?
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to Sophy's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
I would have liked to have seen the future as a cinematic. Worked wonderfully in SH and SH2. The problem with having it as part of the dialogue, is although the game is over and it is part of the end. It just dosnt have the "end" feeling that a voiced over cinematic does. I'm actually happy that most of the cut content stayed cut. Nothing that annoys me more in a game than the writer taking over control irrespective of the system. Imagine this for an easy to see why things were cut. Disciple/ Atton square off - If it's done as a cinematic, then will they use the same abilities they actually have in game ?Or is Disciple going to pull force lightning out of his arse even though he dosnt have the skill. What if niether of them have lightsabers etc etc. It was bad enough when Kreia did it in her Sion battle. Like it wouldnt have been useful for cutting through those assasins or anything. But given her nature and her very concealing robe it's just about buyable. Which is wore, it not happening or it happening in a way that totally goes against everything you did upto that point in the game? Such scenes are fraught with problems. One of the things that REALLY made me smile about MGS III was whenever there was a scene, Snake would be in the same outfit and have the same camo. (unless for story reasons like being naked and hung from the ceiling). Compare that to Shadows of Rome where you would reset to your default outfit during cutscenes. -
What level you guys went prestige at
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to SW fan's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
15 is the earliest. -
Think I'll download it and give it a go. Didnt like Gothic much, but the fact that I had to dredge up long buried memories of German lessons did not put me in the best of moods.
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Idle Thumbs' KotOR II review
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to funcroc's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
for Darth Lego. It makes me think that a PC version should have been nixed though. -
Looks like some sort of MMPORG. Stuff about it over at gamefaqs (quell suprise). I read some of the board and it looks like some people like it.
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Very worthwhile to check out next time it's on animal planet.
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Color scheme
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to wannabealoser125's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
I'm not... I'd really like to care about something so trivial.. Ok no, I really dont give a monkeys really. damm been playing Bards Tale so much he's starting to rub off on me. -
What is it?
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PS2 is way better has a much larger and more interesting lineup. Which at the end of the day is all that matters. Sticking a HD in the Xbox really pushed the costs up. Japanese people have smaller hands. The original Xbox pad was horrid. But the S-version is a nice design. I'd take a look at Snake Eater before I said way better graphics.. As a vet gamer not a lot makes my jaw drop.
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Color scheme
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to wannabealoser125's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
Cant really say I noticed. -
Me either, out of the few titles I bothered to buy. Dawn of War (wasnt bad cant stand playing RTS games on console). Sacred and Vampire, all but DOW went back to the store because they were buggy.
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Which pretty much leaves anyone without and internet connection (and a fast one at that given the size of these "patches) up **** creak without the proverbial paddle. Tis indeed, I've saved a packet despite owning all three consoles and two handhelds.
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I Saw Myself... in a Tomb...*Spoilers*
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to grphiw's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
Your not seeing things. The fact it resembled your old character could just be a coincidence though. -
Oh I understood it, it just wasnt relevent. Heres a clue for you. It's all about the games.
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Clone Wars Vol.2
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to Darth Flatus's topic in Star Wars: General Discussion
It will be on tommorow from 10 am. One good thing about Toonami it's almost impossible to miss anything completely. -
Will any of you be pulling a David Gaider?
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to Shizuka2's topic in Developers' Corner
One of the major disadvantages of any voiced game is that changes will stick out in a very obvious way. And since hiring VOT is beyond the scope of a hobby project I wouldnt expect anything and even if it was done, it would look even more out of place than having nothing there. -
Will any of you be pulling a David Gaider?
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to Shizuka2's topic in Developers' Corner
It's answered in the closing cinematic, assuming you dont blink and miss it :D -
The Bard's Tale Demo was released
ShadowPaladin V1.0 replied to karka's topic in Computer and Console
Finished it earlier on. Funny ending, not difficult to see what was going on, but a nice twist on it anyway. (well you get a choice and I'm saving the other for a replay). Much more fun as a single player game than any of the others. Lots of hidden secrets to find as well, I'm missing 5 tokens and 2 song upgrades. The jam on stage with the drunks was priceless. Only downside is I cant get the songs out of my head now.