Hurlshort

It's a much bigger event when I actually finish a game then when I don't. I probably finish 10% of the games I own. Quite a few aren't even finish-able, like sports games. The most recent I finished are Fallout 3 and Mass Effect.

But it will only be 3/4 as fun without 1.13 mod And you can't really mod a DS game... This is the original JA, not JA2. It's a pretty different game, but it was very fun in its own right. The MERC personalities were in place, as well as the need for different skill sets like lockpicking and explosives. The combat engine isn't as complex as JA2, but it can hold its own. It should translate fantastically to the small screen if the developer doesn't mess up. The storyline is that you are on an island with some special trees that have some medical use. Some doctors have hired you to take over the island from some greedy villain. As you capture territories, you gain revenue from the trees.

GD, are you looking at getting another truck, or something different? I have a Honda CR-V which is nice. Its got AWD, and is super reliable like most Hondas. It's like a mini-SUV, it gets 28 MPG and it is very reasonably priced. But if you are looking for a new truck, you might want to check out Chevy or GMC, since you should literally be able to steal it off the lot with the current economy. It's a fantastic time to buy a new car.

It sounds like Jagged Alliance for the DS is definitely coming this year. The Bears Pit has been in contact with someone at Empire studio about the game. No details, but hopefully we'll hear more soon.

MLB 08 - The Show... I'm terrible. I got a AA ball contract for 30k a season after an abysmal spring training. I was doing ok at the start, but then I just started striking out like crazy.

It's odd, because I felt that way about Sin City, but I actually enjoyed 300.

I miss the family lineage tree stuff a bit.

I got my copy of Game Informer. I didn't read it or look at it closely, because I don't care about the game, but when I was flipping through I noticed a quote about playing the first Big Daddy.

I don't think someone who uses the term animaygayish is interested in JRPG's. Advance Wars is not really anime-ish at all. You've got tanks, choppers, and jets fighting for control of a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Puzzlequest has been my top time killer on the DS, followed by Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Advance Wars is a fantastic TB combat game.

My laptop, a 3-year old Gateway, is having problems with the DVD drive. It doesn't seem to be reading anymore when I put in a CD. Everything else is working fine. I've never really worked on a laptop, so I'm not sure how difficult repairs are. Am I better off taking it to a shop? Is it expensive? I was planning on buying a new laptop in a year or so, so I'm trying to weigh whether I should spend money getting it fixed or just drop the cash on a new one.

All three Fallout games are also on Gametap. I think the first one is free. I should grab Tactics and play it again.

And now we can all see why 360 leads HW sales Um, I didn't pay for any of them, the one positive is that Microsoft is willing to replace the faulty 360's easily enough. But it's still a hassle.

I have no problem with the developer getting more of my money, particularly when I'm paying the same price as I would in the store.

I noticed a few days ago that Steam was taking a long time to load up. If I tried to restart it, it became unresponsive. I found just waiting a few minutes seemed to work. It's definitely not perfect.

I bought a PS3 tonight. I was tired of my 360 having hardware issues, I'm on my 3rd one in the last year. I figured I should trade it in for some moola before it goes belly up again. With all my games and stuff I got $250 in trade in. I used that to buy the $400 80 gig model. I also picked up MGS4 and Saints Row 2. I owned Saints Row 2 on the 360, and it was the best game ever, so I don't regret buying it again. I'm mostly stoked about the Blu-Ray, although I was planning on waiting until I upgraded my TV. I figure the new TV will be a purchase for the end of the year, so now I'm ready. The only thing I'm going to miss on the 360 is Netflix.

Yeah, that's very reasonable. I think it comes down to me just not being a fan of FPS games. As I said at the end, they are very different games, and there really isn't much reason to compare them.

Good question. I would think Seattle would be the best place for a Shadowrun game.

I've always been a fan of upgrading or improving weapons rather than replacing them. It creates a relationship between the player and the equipment. More RPG's should do this, the character is leveling so why can't your equipment do the same?

I'd put the gameplay of FO3 waaaay ahead of Bioshock. There was never a point where I really enjoyed a fight in Bioshock, it was just a means to the end of furthering the story. I had some pretty sweet combat moments in Fallout 3. But really we are comparing a corridor shooter to an open exploration RPG/FPS hybrid.

You can buy a PS for pretty cheap nowadays.

Pretty much every time I've watched my buddy play WoW other characters have been crawling around like ants, but maybe I just checked at the wrong time. WoW is actually one of the smaller MMO's when it comes to square footage. But even with that, the only places I notice crowding are main cities. It's also a trickle effect, when the game is first released you are going to have extremely crowded low level zones. It takes a couple weeks for the level range to spread out. Then whenever new content is released you have a population explosion there. It's actually fairly realistic. It's a great small scale model of economic booms like the Gold Rush of 1849.

I think there is a big difference between a horror game and a scary game. Most games focus on horror, meaning violent visuals, bloody action, and gross enemies. I would love to see more scary games, but I don't see many developers willing to take a risk on NOT having a shootout around every corner. For example, Doom 3 might have been scary, but after the 10th imp jumps out from behind you, it becomes just another action game. A scary game should have maybe two or three actual fights, the rest should just be building up tension.

Is that 'the road to independence' Yep, it's very solid. George Washington is a pimp.

The real obstacle for MMO's on the console is the communication between players. A keyboard makes it pretty easy to send messages back and forth. But mic's are getting better and better, so that issue might fall by the wayside down the road.