Now playing...

[webber]

Still playing Katamari. I love for such a strange and cutesy game, when you start rolling up people they scream in absolute fear and/or agony

[Kirbyoto]

And then you turn them into a white-hot star.
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WHAT IS WRONG WITH U WOMAN?????

[Grave]

[B]

I don't get it. Shit is clearly touching that guy.
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[Grave]

It's called grazing.
You can move close to a bullet without hitting it.

[Bismark]

It looked like there was hits. The ship even flickered. It looks like the ship has a shield instead of this being a one-hit-kill game.
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[Justin]

[Bismark]

Well, that's not entirely true. Sure, katamaris seal the fate of entire cities by rolling them and their inhabitants up to be shot into the vacuum of space, but katamaris also light campfires, gather origami swans for sick kids, and ensure nice days for field trips. A katamari is even responsible for saving the earth from a giant mushroom hurtling towards it! (Which I think is a secret message from the game's creator to let you know how much drugs he was doing!!!!!!!!)
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[B]

Also if you make the moon big enough everybody has a party. So they just go to a better place!
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[Grave]

Though, simply getting rolled up by a katamari could be considered going to a better place.

[Bismark]

Okay, 90% of shooters that have been made since Ikari Warriors star ships instead of...anything else, so I assumed. The screens I watched were about 2 and a half inches square, so that's probably also why it was hard to tell that the player-controlled whatever was somehow avoiding shots that looked like they were hitting. Cool game, either way.
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[Grave]

You control characters, that's all.

Anyway, I'm also playing Earthbound again on the account of its sequel coming out in April.

[TLA]

It's a CHARACTER not a SHIP bah gawd!

Finished FFT, and while I didn't do all the super secret things like the Deep Dark Dungeon or whatever I still had a good time with it, although by the end I was far too powerful for the story bosses to stand much of a chance. TG Cid was pretty cool, but I doubt I'll ever use him again.

Because I had such a good time with FFT, I was going to give Disgaea another go, but my slimline PS2 didn't want to read it. Anyone encounter anything similar? I bought the copy new from a GameStop, so I'm not thinking it was a bootleg or anything.
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It took Jesus 3 days to respawn. Man, talk about lag.

[Bismark]

Tried out some of Black last night. They call it "gun porn" and that pretty much nails it. It looks really good, and the play itself has been cut down to the most basic necessities, and all for the better. Best of all, the guns so far "feel" great and pack the punch you want them to. I haven't gotten into it enough to get much of the story, but I can't really see that it would sway me either way on it. If the play is as solid throughout, it's a winner.
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[Dollo]

Very early on in God of War (I just arrived in Athens). So far, me likey.
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No one Ever Really Dies.

[Jim]

Enjoy Black while you can, Biz. Apparently it's criminally short.
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[Bismark]

I got that impression. It lists a lot of unlockables, so it seems to count multiple playthroughs as it's full lifespan, which is fucking cheap. On the other hand, it's fun enough to screw around with so far that playing through it a few times is probably worthwhile.
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[wee bull]

Black is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've been watching my housemate play it on normal mode, and had a bit of a go myself, and it takes a fair few bullets just to take down one guy. Given its simplistic nature, I expected it to be fairly easy to boot.

Wasn't that impressed by it myself though. It seemed too shallow for my liking. That said, I was very impressed by what they've managed to do with the Xbox to get the graphics and physics they did. Heavily scripted admittedly, but in some ways more impressive for that fact.

[Jon]

I'm finally playing Half-Life 2 again. I bought it over a year ago, but the PC I had at the time froze up in the middle of Ravenholm. Playing through the Ravenholm level reminded me of how terrifying it is. It's right up there with the static-filled gurgling in Doom. It's made me jump on more than one occasion.

I'm completely amazed at how well-done it is. It doesn't try to do too much. What it does, though, it does flawlessly. Most ambitious games you play these days have noticeable glitches. This really doesn't have any that I've come across. Even the AI always makes sense.

I should probably wait until I finish playing to give my final verdict on it, but I certainly wouldn't call it among my favorite games. One of the objectively greatest games ever, maybe. It is the very best at what it does. But I just kind of feel like I'm being taken on a ride, rather than experiencing these things myself. I'm on Normal difficulty and have only managed to die once, and that was because I accidentally walked off a rooftop. It's engrossing, and the active elements in the environment are lots of fun, but it's kind of hard for me to take ownership of the experience when the path is very firmly and strictly put forth for me.

[DGMacphee]

Yeah, that's one of the big differences I found between HL2 and something like the Deus Ex games or San Andraes. HL2 feels like a ride, although a damn good ride, but it doesn't have the immersive and exploratory aspects of the latter games.

On a related note: I think the game also makes an interesting allegory for the Iraqi insurgency, but I tend to read too deeply into things and Bill O'Riley would call me a lefty pinko Yankee.
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A suitable ending, I think!