Yeah, it isn't really an expansion though. It's a stand alone game based on Civ 4. You should check it out if you enjoy the Civ games.

Speaking of which, Civ players, what is your favorite Civ game?

I was actually playing Colonization for quite a bit last year, but not recently. As for the Civ games, Civ4 is my favorite, but only because it was the first one I ever played for any great length of time. A new Alpha Centauri would be nice.

I bought an arcade stick, which made this game even more amazing. Really, there's something very primal about it. It gets the root of what makes video games so damn fun. Or it captures my arcade youth or something. You are a ship and you blow shit up. What more do you need?

ive recently discovered Savage 2, and i am having a lot of fun playing it online. the company is currently working on a DotA type game.

Alpha Centauri was the one civ I spent the most time with over the years.

http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/
the game is in closed beta.
I have been playing for a few weeks now, and i am having a blast. the game is VERY well done, and its still only in beta.
i have some beta invites, so if you want one, PM me an email address to get the invite sent to.
linux mac and windows are all supported.

Really excited for Aion!

I got into the beta just before my vacation started. Didn't get to play too much of it but it was awesome.

Repost:

No HTML = bullshit. And you fucking know it, SOMB admins.

i agree, but we were forced to disable it due too excessive abuse. Ill look into seeing if its possible to enable only some tags.

that mmo looks pretty. does it use directx or opengl?

civ 3 niggas!

i also need to give love to civ rev. of course it's no where near as complex or include nearly all the micro aspects...but it works well on the xbox. and i do most of my gaming on that piece now.

fallout 3 is my current addiction. and im in the world series on mlb 2k9 in my first year with the nats. custom sliders...which do work great. my team is completely rehauled and the trades weren't overly in my favor. let's just say a 3-4 slot of adam dunn and dan uggla does wonders.

I'm down for playing that MMO. though I'm not in BETA

There will be a free open beta sign up soon for Aion Online.

Don't know when exactly, but if interested keep an eye out on the typical MMO sites & feeds. Its gonna be great.

BTW, DDO's beta is still up if any want to check that out in the meantime till Aion goes live. PST Jozef the Madman on the beta server, level 3 Human Warpriest of Siberys, LFG SR.

Damo, please let me know if its openGL or directX. i would like to assess the possibility of running this in WINE.

It's DirectX. Sorry Rufus.

New video for Aion 1.5 shows off some new instances, the sky pirates, more PVP battlegrounds, more the abyss and some new epic boss encounters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVhpWGmehhU

All in-game footage. No CGI bullshit. That's the motherfucking game.

it sounds like the main thing keeping this game from running in WINE is that it uses Game Guard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameGuard
TBH, if i was running windows, i would refuse to install anything that uses Game Guard, this program is scary.
its a shame b/c that Aion game looks really cool, and i would otherwise try it out for sure.

Meh. Gave up worrying about shit like that. My gaming rig and personal rig are separate machines. If I ever need to wipe my gaming rig all I lose is an hour.

Truth is Game Guard would never sop me from playing Rappelz.

Anybody here playing Madden 10? i wanna fuk around with the Online franchise mode but all of them are pass only.

i recently realized i'll be purchasing a PS3 for Little Big Planet and this



i know it's stupid but whatever

i seriously need this

I trust you're aware of the recent PS3 Slim / price drop announcement

Flower is pretty neat but gets old very fast. Not bad as a quick diversion here and there.

The new Wolfenstein is pretty good, but there are a lot of nitpicks I have with it. Hate that I can't turn off the bloom effect. Who can see anything with bloom going full throttle? It blinds me. Also not crazy about the very low mouse sensitivity and cheap auto-aim. Like the mission structure with the hub city and the mobs are fun to fight.

That Wolfenstein game looked pretty standard.

Can somebody with a PS3 tell me if it's worth the money?

Basically if Little Big Planet is as great as it looks

If you're the type to really take advantage of the "create a level/map/character" options in games then LBP is your wet dream. The real selling point of the game is that you can really truely create your own levels. Not quite from scratch, but pretty damned close to it. Aside from that the movement of the characters is a tad floaty, but nothing you can't get used to.
Not owning a PS3, I can still tell you it's worth it, especially if you have a High-Def TV and will be using the Blu-Ray player.

I don't think LBP is worth getting a PS3 for specifically. PS3s are a little pricey compared to a Xbox if you only play a handful of games. Like Flower, LBP wears pretty thin after a bit. Then again, Flower & LBP appeal to players that aren't really hardcore gamers. Very good games if you just want to relax for an hour or so. But if you take gaming seriously in any regard than there are better things to spend time & money on.

If you are interested in MGS, Resistance, Killzone, etc and LBP, then ya. PS3 is pretty sweet.

Yeah I'm definitely not a hardcore gamer. I really, really enjoy Mario World, Crash Bandicoot, and that style of game a shitload more than Halo etc. But Half Life 2 is still probably my favorite game ever.

I'm sure MGS is great, and if I got a PS3 I would undoubtably get that game, but are Resistance and Killzone really anywhere near the quality of Half Life 2? I only draw the comparison because they're both FPS and they're both realistic science fiction style games. I loved HL2 because the level design was constantly interesting and well done, the graphics were excellent and not cheesy (making it feel much more cutting edge and realistic), and the multiplayer game that came with it (TF2) is fucking incredibly fun. Not to mention that Portal is excellent. Haven't played through episodes 1+2 yet though.

For the record I think Bioshock is a pretty boring game with cheesy art direction. I like the Halo series but I haven't played through a whole campaign (and truly loved and enjoyed it) since the first one.

I also haven't played through a single MGS game apart from the 2D one that was on game boy color a while back. Don't know why.

Basically I'm debating whether to purchase a PS3 or an Xbox 360 for my new apartment this year. Money isn't an issue, I just want great, innovative games that are fun to play. They can be difficult, I have plenty of time. I just want good games, with a strong interest in good platformers (seems like the golden age of platformers came and went with Psychonauts, Voodoo Vince, etc on the xbox. some great games there). Damn Ratchet and Clank and Jak + Dexter were great series as well. Wish I knew about more games like those.

OK I just typed a ton, too much coffee. I've already got a Wii which has Mario Galaxy which might be my second favorite game ever. I want to know about more games like that: simple, well made (great level design), low learning curve but wealth of riches if you dive into it. I still haven't bought World of Goo and I'm playing through Zelda:OOT for the first time which is fucking beautiful and exciting.



OK I'M ON OVERLOAD
If anybody reading this knows any game developers tell them you know an electronic musician who is intensely interested in writing music for their games, in the vein of classic Mario+Zelda tunes!

Also has anybody played any of the following and can provide me an opinion?:

Splosion Man
God of War 2
that one game that's like Excite Bike- I forget the name of it. looked kind of fun...
Boom Blox 2 (probably at the top of my list right now)

overall cost of ownership for ps3 is lower than xman360 imo. its 299 now, and online play is free, so after the first year its teh same cost as an xman, and thats not including buying wireless xman controllers and wireless adapter and such
i for one, will be buying one as soon as the slim is released, and when i get my tuition refund check, whichever comes later :S

The problem with multiple consoles out there is that you will inevitably miss out on some great exclusives from the one you didn't buy.

FWIW, I've loved my 360, mostly because of Xbox Live Arcade, which has a ton of "great, innovative games that are fun to play." Especially if you came of gaming age in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Geometry Wars, Braid, N+, and Castle Crashers are classic genre games that are fresher than 99% of all "modern" games. Geometry Wars alone was worth the 360's price tag to me--that game is the purest distillation of gaming joy this side of Mario. Shadow Complex is another one that just came out that's similar to the Metroidvania games and is getting rave reviews. Splosion Man also seems up your alley--classic challenging platforming with a shit-ton of character.

That said, the PS3 has some great-looking exclusives too, especially in the experimental/innovative/Japanese vein. You've mentioned LBP and Flower. The PixelJunk games also look fantastic, though not especially deep, as does the upcoming build-your-own cart racer game. And of course the PS3 has Wipeout.

Do you have an HDTV? Do you watch movies on it? If so, you have to give strong considering to the PS3 for Bluray.


?

Can't underestimate Xbox Arcade. If what you really want are platformers, than there are a lot of options on XA along with many other old school flavored games. I do believe XA superior to PSN, btw. It comes down to what you want to play at the end of the day. Many games are cross platform but it's up to you what exclusives are most exciting to your tastes.

I have no preference; gamers should own all the system of the current gen, imo.

That said, PS3's games appeal to me more than the 360's games. And LBP/Flower are great. I didn't mean to sound negative about them-- they are good.

Nothing is on the level of Half-Life 2 except Half-Life 2: Chapter XX and Portal. Good luck waiting for a non-Valve game to improve on what is universally considered the greatest implementation of the FPS genre. It's like waiting for some1 not named Miyamoto to better Miyamoto.

holy shit

http://www.pcworld.com/article/170660/rare...hdef_shots.html

guess i'm getting a 360

Finally got around to fallout 3, i'm about 45 hours in and can easily say this is the best "next gen 360/ps3" rpg I've played. I really didn't like elder scrolls all that much in fact I'd say I disliked it which is what kept me from trying this one for so long...big mistake apparantly. I love the pseudo FPS/turn based combat system, combat in most rpg's is pretty boring after 45 hours not so much here...still enjoying it. I used to play every RPG that came down the pipeline but sometime in the last 5 years I pretty much stopped and only played 1 or 2 here or there....now i'm playing this thinking of what RPG i should play next....this game has done nothing less then revitalized my interest in the entire genre.

I've played a few RPGs this generation -- Fallout 3, Fable II, Mass Effect, and Lost Odyssey. People have bitched about ME here, but I liked it. It looks like they're going to improve upon it with the next one, too.

Fable II wasn't perfect, but it was a step in the right direction and an improvement over the first one. Maybe they'll finally strike gold on III next year.

Lost Odyssey is a game that would probably drive nearly everyone here mad because it's "archaic," but I enjoyed it well enough. It wasn't perfect, nor as good as I hoped it would be, but it was a better Final Fantasy then other recent Final Fantasy games.

There's the FPS/RPG hybrid coming out next month called Borderlands that looks pretty interesting. It sort of looks like a cel-shaded Fallout 3 with more emphasis on the shooter aspect. The entire thing can be played co-op, too.

Dragon Age: Origins comes out in November from Bioware. The combat looks boring though, but the 100 hours you can supposedly play on it gets me excited. If true though, it would take me ages to finish it.

I'm playing this:



Have been only clocking in an hour or so every now and then, but so far it's pretty fun. Just hearing the voiceover work is like a big nostalgic trip to my prepubescent days.

Yeah, I'm playing Batman. Lots of fun. Great voice acting, art direction, world to explore. Easy to play, difficult to master combat system that works really well, which also makes the challenge mode lots of fun. So so plot. Item collection is pretty good, particularly when tied to unlocking character bio stuff on Batman villains.

Also playing the latest Professor Layton, which rocks of course.

I picked up a PS3 slim on the day it came out. I got BlazBlue. I am having a lot of fun with that game. I am also borrowing Little Big Planet from a friend, but I have played that before so its not as exciting.

So far the best part is the media streaming. I have a server running on my desktop that the PS3 can see and so its easy to watch anything on there. I love it.

I'm not sure if this is the right question for this thread, but here goes:

I want a Blu-Ray player, and it seems like a can get a decent stand alone player for $200. The obvious question is should I shell out the extra $100 and just get a PS3 slim?

My biggest concern is that I'll be sacrificing some blu-ray-quality in exchange for the gaming stuff...and while the gaming stuff would be great for an extra $100, I rarely have time to play anything more than a few songs on guitar hero for which my Wii is just fine. Any advice is appreciated.

The PS3 has consistently ranked towards the top of all Blu-ray players. The big downside is the remote is a pain, especially if you have a universal remote that needs to be programmed.

Thanks. That bit about the remote is very helpful. I didn't know the PS3 remote worked off of bluetooth. I just assumed it was an IR remote. I'm probably going to go with a stand-alone player because I want to keep everything on a universal (plus the PS3 remote takes the price to $325. Not a huge difference, but still).

Actually if you have a Sony Bravia television, you can use your standard TV remote with the PS3 now.

You can buy an inexpensive addon to get the PS3 to work with a universal remote. The one I got has a little IR detector that plugs into one of the USB ports. Can't remember what I got, but I'm sure I just did a search on Amazon.com. Works like a charm with my remote with the one downside being that you have to power up and power down the PS3 separately, which makes the one button turn everything on/off capability of the universal remote less sexy.

I've been using the PS3 to watch DVDs and Blu-Rays for nearly a year now and it works just fine. The only things I don't like are the turn on/off thing and that the PS3 has no clock/display that shows how much time has passed or is left with the movie, which I use to time my beer/snack runs.

Finished Arkham Asylum and found all the Riddler's clues. 100%, fuck yes.

I love that they had the real voice actors for the game. Kevin Conroy is THE voice of Batman.

Agree 100%

I hear Conroy when I read the comics.

I beat it last weekend. Got all of the riddles, too. I'd really like to get all the achievements (I have six left, all challenge room-related), but some of them are too tough for me. Do a perfect combo using all special moves? Yeah, okay. My friend who beat the game in a day did it though. The man's insane. So glad the game came out good though.

I got fat princess for the PS3, and it is a very fun game. For those of you who havent played it, its a CTF style game in which you choose a class and fight until you die, then respawn. but instead of a flag, its a princess that you can make fat by giving her cake, thereby making her harder to carry.

Yeah, I'm an idiot. I did it. Five achievements left, and I'm determined to get all of them. Usually I'm not concerned so much, but I am with this game for some reason.

I've been up to my eyeballs in Baldur's Gate II in anticipation of the new Bioware title coming soon. I had played it when it first came out and got maybe 10 hours in when my PC was toasted by a horrible power surge. I couldn't play it again until I absolutely forgot 99% of the storyline that I had encountered, which is now, and I'm loving it.

This is the first game I've gotten into since getting married and it should be interesting to see how my wife reacts to my devotion to it.

BGII is one of perhaps 3 games that is absolutely perfect. Like perfect, perfect. It has not a single flaw in gameplay.

I've tried to re-create it using several video game engines, have made mods and have converted several game systems to suit it. It's interesting to pull it apart and look at the desperate parts.

They just made it so perfect.

Great game. Good to see some fans here.