The New Console & Video Game Thread

[Tramz]

The old thread was extremely popular, so I thought I would refresh it. I'll start things off by telling a bit about my own gaming habits. I have a 360, ps3 and a Wii. There is a DS in the house, although it is not mine. I have been an MMO addict (and text based MUDs before that) for many, MANY years. Chiefly, this means World of Warcraft where I can be found on the Terenas server either playing my Paladin (prot primary, holy secondary) or more recently, the Goblin Warlock that I've been leveling.

When it comes to consoles, I tend to lean towards my 360. I have a jasper core. My original Xenon core failed like a month before Valhalla came out, so what can you do? Thankfully, I've had no problems with it. I'm eager to play Skyrim, but I really need to find the time to finally finish Oblivion first. Other favorites in recent years include: Bioshock (I cannot wait for Infinite), Borderlands (Yay for 2 being officially announced not that long ago), Brutal Legend (a metal video game? yes please), Mass Effect, and really too many to list out here.

Oh and for the record, I'm actually not in a rush for Diablo 3. I wasn't the hugest fan of 2, despite the original being one of my all time favorites. The first few weeks after D3 comes out, WoW will probably be a ghost town hehe.

So what are your favorite games? What is your console of choice? Or are you primarily a PC gamer (as i was for a long time)? What are you currently playing?

 

[C.]

My console of choice is the Gamecube, because it's the last "new" console I could afford.

I'll always be a Zelda game addict; in fact, now that I know the new game is out, it's really giving me an incentive to finally try to save money for a Wii.

 

[Tramz]

I am such a slacker. I haven't yet played Twilight Princess (although I have it), so I'll probably hold off on picking up Skyward Sword, though it looks amazing (even if i am unsure about a Zelda game that requires quite that much in the way of wii-mote action).

This holiday season I'm going to be picking up a few Kinect games: The Gunstringer looks like a lot of fun, and Child of Eden is something I wanted to get as soon as it came out (being a huge Rez HD fan). I also plan to nab Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The original MvC3 is amazing, so that's a no-brainer. I'm also heavily considering getting Skylanders. Kind of gimmicky with it's collectible control/character figurines, but in a way that appeals to me.

I never buy games at full price because they always come down in a few months. I can wait. So the Skyrims, Arkham Cities, and Rayman Origins will be waiting a while hehe.

 

[C.]

And also, the fact that you can rent games for so cheap these days, and keep them for as long as you want, that is also a good incentive not to buy. I mean, all you really need is the memory card anyway, and you can always rent it again whenever you feel like playing.

I am hoping that the older models of Nintendo DS will be low in price this Christmas, to make room for newer models. I got a great deal on my GBA this way, so it would be nice to have an upgrade.

My aunt told me that she got us an older XBox for Christmas (she found it onsale; she's not a video game person so she wasn't sure if we had one or not), so it will be interesting to see what kind of games there are.

 

[Tramz]

I am not a big person for renting games. It's just my nature, I enjoy having a collection. But i definitely see the value for some people.

When you say "older xbox" does that mean an xbox or an xbox 360? The prior affords you some options, but still is fairly limited. It's not a current generation console. The 360 offers much more, though hopefully "older" still doesn't mean like an original Xenon core (or even a Zephyr, Falcon or an Opus). Those older cores risk RROD (Red Ring of Death) which is as bad as it sounds. Whichever you get, I can help you with gaming recommendations, if you need.

As for the DS: Be aware there was a price drop on the 3DS a few months ago. it can be gotten for $169.99, which I'll grant you can still be expensive for someone in the sub-100 market. But it's a serious price drop and comparable when right now DSi's and the like are going for around $130 or so. Though I did just check and saw an original DS going for $80 on ebgames.com. They also have a pre-owned Wii there for the same $80 price.

 

[Danteryu]

I love video games, at the moment I just have my laptop and my PS2 and PSP, although I WILL buy a PS3.
My favourites are classic Final Fantasy (up to X, then it all went to shit), Metal Gear, classic Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, etc.
On the Western end of things, Dragon Age was one of the best games I've ever played.

 

[C.]

Tramz: Since this was bought for me by someone who's not knowledgeable about video games, I can't really answer that, and since I don't have it yet, I can't see for myself and tell you. But I'll let you know.

 

[Tramz]

I love video games, at the moment I just have my laptop and my PS2 and PSP, although I WILL buy a PS3.
My favourites are classic Final Fantasy (up to X, then it all went to shit), Metal Gear, classic Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Street Fighter, etc.
On the Western end of things, Dragon Age was one of the best games I've ever played.

This is probably blasphemy, but I gave up on Final Fantasy after 7. Not that I didn't enjoy 7, and in hindsight playing 8 would have been cool. But I was kind of done with that particular formula. Whenever I get the urge for FF I always go back to FF2 (4).

I still load up Devil May Cry 4 on occasion. Bayonetta is a similar game that I've also enjoyed. And yeah, Dragon Age was awesome. 2? Not as much. I love the sprawling RPG's though. Example? I've sunk around 200 hours into Oblivion and finally had to force myself to really get to the main quest.

 

[Hyperspace]

My console of choice is the Gamecube, because it's the last "new" console I could afford.

I'll always be a Zelda game addict; in fact, now that I know the new game is out, it's really giving me an incentive to finally try to save money for a Wii.

I'm more of a Mario game addict. The newest Mario game I want to buy is Super Mario 3D Land, but I need to buy a 3DS for that. I should have my 3DS before the end of this year.

The only time I played a Zelda game was about 6 or 7 years ago when I played a small part of Ocarina of Time because my sister was too shared to do the Shadow Temple. I haven't played the entire game at all and I've never played any other Zelda games.

C., I'm surprised you are considering getting a Wii, because you posted this message in the old "Console & Video Game Thread" on this forum. You posted this:

I haven't really considered getting a Wii yet because I have read several reviews online saying that the Wii is not really designed for left-handed folks (and, since I'm left-handed, this is obviously a concern for me), that they have difficulties playing it. And for another, I also just like old-fashioned hand-held controllers. I just don't want to get as interactive with the games as Wii is encouraging.

I've never heard of anything saying the Wii isn't designed for left-handed people. I have a friend who is left-handed and has no problem playing the Wii.

As far as the Wii's controller goes (that looks like a TV remote), some games make it possible to use it as a normal controller where you don't have to use the Nunchuk. If you wand an old-fashioned handheld controller, you should look into something called the "Wii Classic Controller Pro". Here's some information (and price) for the classic controller:

http://www.gamestop.com/wii/accessories/wii-classic-controller-pro-white/77240

Unfortunately, you can't use the Classic Controller with the newest Zelda game. You need the the Wii's default controller and the Nunchuk to play it.

If you are going to buy a Wii, don't buy the black Wii because it does not support backwards compatibility for GameCube games. I know you have a GameCube already, so this isn't really an issue for you. Although I would recommend you buy the white Wii, because that still supports GameCube games and you never know when your GameCube could die on you.

 

[C.]

^Well, that was a long time ago, back when the Wii was first released (when I first heard that info, that is), and I am hoping that things like this have improved. The main reason I have held off from getting a Wii is mostly because I haven't been able to afford one. I keep telling myself that once they drop down to between the $100-$150 mark, I'll consider getting one.

Thanks for the advice on which Wii to get, because I may want to sell my Gamecube one day, but still keep my games. So this is very useful information! Kiitos!

I'm not happy to hear that you can't opt to use a standard controller for the new Zelda game; this is yet another "con" on my list as to why I haven't gotten a Wii; I'm an old-school gamer, I like hand-held controls. For a console like this, there should always be the option as to which controller you'd prefer to use.

I'm a Mario game addict too; no one better to turn to when you want a fun multi-player game. Well, I grew up in the '80s, so Mario and Zelda are like old friends.

 

[Hyperspace]

^ You mentioned something about wanting to get a DS eventually. The original DS is no longer manufactured and I haven't seen any new DS Lite systems in stores anywhere. You can find pre-owned original DS systems and pre-owned DS Lites in GameStop, but they refer to them as "Refurbished" on the box instead of "pre-owned". If you don't want to buy a pre-owned DS system, you could go for a new DSi or a DSi XL system. DSi's current price is $149.99, while the DSi XL is $169.99. The DSi or DSi XL will not support GBA games. Only the original DS or the DS Lite will support GBA games.


There is also a new portable system called the 3DS that came out earlier this year and it supports DS games. The 3DS is an entirely new system, so 3DS games can't be played on any model of the DS. Currently, the 3DS is $169.99. It used to cost $249.99 when it came out, but it sold very poorly at that price and was later dropped to $169.99. The 3DS is the first portable system to display graphics in full 3D without having to use 3D glasses at all. This 3D stuff has been known to cause headaches if you play it too long with the 3D effect turned on. The good news is that you can control the level of the 3D effect, or even turn it off if you want to. As for why the 3D effect causes headaches, I've heard it's because your eyes are using muscles that it normally doesn't use to process the 3D effect, and that might explain the headaches. After a while, you end up getting used to the 3D effect and you'll stop getting the headaches.

I plan to get a 3DS sometime around Christmas, along with Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7. On a different forum, someone posted this about the 3D effect:

man you guys are bunch of girls with weak eyes

I went full 3D from the beginning and never looked back!

That actually make me laugh there. I'm going to try and do that when I get my 3DS.

 

[Danteryu]

This is probably blasphemy, but I gave up on Final Fantasy after 7. Not that I didn't enjoy 7, and in hindsight playing 8 would have been cool. But I was kind of done with that particular formula. Whenever I get the urge for FF I always go back to FF2 (4).

I still load up Devil May Cry 4 on occasion. Bayonetta is a similar game that I've also enjoyed. And yeah, Dragon Age was awesome. 2? Not as much. I love the sprawling RPG's though. Example? I've sunk around 200 hours into Oblivion and finally had to force myself to really get to the main quest.

That IS blasphemy!
IX is the best one!

But yeah, since Sagaguchi left Square, FF has gone down the toilet.

 

[C.]

^ You mentioned something about wanting to get a DS eventually. The original DS is no longer manufactured and I haven't seen any new DS Lite systems in stores anywhere. You can find pre-owned original DS systems and pre-owned DS Lites in GameStop, but they refer to them as "Refurbished" on the box instead of "pre-owned". If you don't want to buy a pre-owned DS system, you could go for a new DSi or a DSi XL system. DSi's current price is $149.99, while the DSi XL is $169.99. The DSi or DSi XL will not support GBA games. Only the original DS or the DS Lite will support GBA games.

Right, Tramz mentioned this to me a while back, and I would probably look for a used, since it seems the newer models are still too high-priced for me.

 

[Hyperspace]

I just read some topics on a different forum that Nintendo has stopped producing the DS Lite a few months ago and by now, all new DS Lite systems have disappeared from any stores that sell them. You can only find a used DS Lite at this point in time, which you could get at GameStop.

I would expect the newer DS models to drop in price eventually, with the 3DS already out right now. The DSi XL currently has the same price as a 3DS, which doesn't make a lot of sense because the 3DS is packing more powerful hardware than the DSi XL.

 

[nodoubtaholic]

I'm a PC girl. Occasional PS3 player. Originally Nintendo and N64 through my teen years (so many memories playing 007 and having major laugh attacks). But I've always been a PC game player. My game of choice for the past 5 years has been World of Warcraft. I started playing near the end of Vanilla. BC was my golden era. I play a resto druid (tree for life!), I had a LOT of fun raiding in BC and into Wrath. But near the end of Wrath I really burned myself out (I had been raiding at least 3 days a week for going on 2 straight years). So I took a little break near the end of Wrath. And then they took my identity away (putting Tree on CD) and I've had a hard time getting back into it since. I love Cata, but here lately they've REALLY dumbed it down. I liked having to go through all the hoops and loops to get keyed to even get into instances. It sort of weeded out the dumb players from the smarter ones. I think raiding got unfun for me when achievements came into the game. I love achievements and having something to shoot for, but it took away from (and added more stress to) the idea of just downing some bosses to get some awesome loot. ...Now I want to play.

I'm on the Kel'thuzad server, and I'm alliance.

 

[C.]

Do you mean the 007 Goldeneye for N64? I'm normally not a fan of those games, but oh, the hours my boyfriend and I spent on our old N64, having Mario Kart tournaments! Anyway, he was playing the Goldeneye game and got to a part where he was stuck, and I decided to give it a try for him, and ended up passing the level, so from then on, he just watched me finish his game for him. Men!

 

[Tramz]

I'm a PC girl. Occasional PS3 player. Originally Nintendo and N64 through my teen years (so many memories playing 007 and having major laugh attacks). But I've always been a PC game player. My game of choice for the past 5 years has been World of Warcraft. I started playing near the end of Vanilla. BC was my golden era. I play a resto druid (tree for life!), I had a LOT of fun raiding in BC and into Wrath. But near the end of Wrath I really burned myself out (I had been raiding at least 3 days a week for going on 2 straight years). So I took a little break near the end of Wrath. And then they took my identity away (putting Tree on CD) and I've had a hard time getting back into it since. I love Cata, but here lately they've REALLY dumbed it down. I liked having to go through all the hoops and loops to get keyed to even get into instances. It sort of weeded out the dumb players from the smarter ones. I think raiding got unfun for me when achievements came into the game. I love achievements and having something to shoot for, but it took away from (and added more stress to) the idea of just downing some bosses to get some awesome loot. ...Now I want to play.

I'm on the Kel'thuzad server, and I'm alliance.

Ut oh, an alliance player I've always been Horde, except for one brief stint when I had enough of my guild Horde side on Terenas (before I made my own raiding guild) and some friends lured me to alliance. Back in the vanilla and BC days I raided as a rogue (through the end of BT. We never got to Sunwell in it's prime era). Late BC I made a paladin tank and I raided throughout Wrath as that. Ulduar was an awesome dungeon. So much fun, even if it was easy.

I used to like keyed stuff, too. I remember all the way back in the EverQuest days during the Planes of Power expansion when you needed to be flagged to even enter the higher planes. It was so awesome during the early days of that expansion. Only the members of top guilds were there. Everyone knew everyone. There were no stupid people. Now a days we have stuff like Deathwing dying hours after 4.3 went live. I was in Org at the time and I saw the message. I could not believe what I was seeing. Talk about too easy. My WoW friends occasionally shake our head at the notion of how kiddies today would not have lasted 5 minutes in a place like BWL.

That said, it's just a given that you get burned out after a while. Around the time of the Argent Tournament stuff was it for me. I took a good long break until a month or so into Cata. Cata basically sucks in my experience. Tanking has become a joke. There is virtually no threat of losing aggro. CC is virtually entirely unnecessary except in some specific end game situations, and now we have Kung Fu Panda to look forward to? Complete with Pokemon style pet battles. It's like they are trying to kill their game.

At least I am enjoying the Goblin Warlock (Affliction) I've been leveling. He's level 78 now. Won't be too much longer till he's maxed out and can do some raiding. Next up will be a Goblin Mage. I'm going to buck the stats/trend for Arcane and go for Fire. More fun :]

 

[nodoubtaholic]

Ugh this this this! My burn out happened pretty much the same time as yours. I did those stupid argent dailies forever and we were banging our heads in ulduar 25's and I just wanted to scoop out my eyeballs everytime I played (save for ulduar 10's where I played with a more pro group and we murdered everything without the whiners from the 25's). Just about the time the Argent Tournament instances came out I was like.. my brain was melting. So I quit from then until just before Cata. I haven't raided since Ulduar actually.

And now, I haven't played in another 3 months or so. I used to be so on top of things that I now feel totally overwhelmed and behind every time I get on, even though I know it wouldn't take me long to catch up. On top of that, I'm stuck in my original fail guild that I slightly resent, because during the time I took my long break the pro guild I left my original fail guild for, disbanded. Along with one of my best WoW friends that I followed out of said fail guild, not only changed guilds, but transferred servers.

I'm curious about the next expansion, but I'm kind of scratching my head at it. My boyfriend still plays daily, so I'm always in the loop of what's going on. ...Looking for raid? really? So not interested in that crapola.

I miss BC.
Horde rogues are and always were the bane of my existence...lol.. Although if I was ever alone in BC I would try to position myself near the edge of a zone where you could just fall off the world and then pop flight form to get away. Loved doing that..

I leveled a Warlock goblin just to see what the zone was like up to like 15 or so.. it was awesome! I'd like to pick it back up again.. that stupid car and riding it all over that little zone with your little sidekicks and the radio was hilarious. If anything in Cata they really did make leveling a lot better. But that's about it.

 

[Tramz]

About the only thing in Ulduar (25 or 10) that gave us real trouble was Yogg-Saron. People had a hard time understanding those portals. It could be a pain once inside to avoid the insanity builders, do some damage, and get out in time.

I'm with you on Looking For Raid. When i heard about that, all I could say was how they are further killing server identity (if there is any left at this point). Not to mention, pick up GROUPS are horrible enough. Pick up RAIDS will be unbearable.

Heh rogues.. I used to love to Shadowstep in and one or two shot people. It was so OP it was ridiculous. But it was great during some battles in Alterac Valley (before it just became a mad stealth race). Just pick out some chump who was around half life and one shot him. So cheap, but so much fun.

Anyway, anyone at the OSA who plays WoW is welcome to make an alt on Terenas (Horde side). You can just PM me for my character name. My friends and I have left the main raid rat race and we just do our thing, raiding here and there, mostly leveling up alts right now. So I make absolutely no promises, just some fun. :]

 

[Taimi]

Oook, obviously the only Need For Speed fan here... Stay the hell away from the new one, The Run. I couldn't even finish it, it was so bad.