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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

Getting the 'Ryudo has left, and as a result lots of old members are returning' email! XD
by Martin
Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:40 am
 
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Re: So, Martin's Unbanned..

Hello, everyone! I am unbanned! I was having an email back-and-forth with Yama a while ago, requesting to be unbanned. He unbanned me then, but when I checked I could not log in and was still banned. As if somebody had overruled his decision. You'd have all had Martin-love months ago if it were not for that. I don't know how many years I've been gone (three/four?), but my love for Shenmue has never wavered. When asked, I still tell people my favourite game ever is Shenmue.

I must say, I am deeply-moved by the 'FREE MARTIN' campaign. I didn't realise I had any impact on these boards at all. It seems some of you have been holding a lit candle for me in these dark, Dojo-less years. Thank you! From memory, I was banned by Ryudo after I said something to him. I can't remember what I said, but I do remember feeling like I didn't deserve a banning. I also remember feeling back then that newly-appointed staff member Ryudo had let all that admin power go to his head. I remember him administering warnings and bannings left right and center.

It seems a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. QWERTY just sent me a PM attempting to fill me in on what has happened, but in all honesty I couldn't make hide nor hare of it. Not QWERTY's fault. I gather things came to a head with Ryudo, and gradually he began to adversely-affect this community? That's about all I can make out.

Whatever has happened, I think the key word here is community . I know that when I was here last, this place had real character. It was more than just a Shenmue board. We had all kinds of extremely-intelligent members, like the guy with the top hat cat? What was his name? Mr-something? Then there were members who would mask their intelligence under humour, which was also a cool thing. Mostly they'd participate in a funny or irreverent way, and occasionally they would reveal their intelligence through extremely-insightful posts. People like Mittenz.

I feel I must apologise if I had ever acted incorrectly. Perhaps I did deserve to be banned. After all, who gets banned and thinks "Yeah, I deserved that"? From what I remember, I used to complain about signature sizes and coloured text. Little things used to annoy me, and rather than suck it up, I would air my puny grievances as if they were major problems. For that, I apologise.

Hopefully whatever bad blood has occurred since I've been away can be laid to rest. Shenmue Dojo has always been one of those great rare things - a gaming community who, in addition to a love for a particular series, have an ability to post and discuss extremely interesting topics which have nothing to do with games, but the world we live in, and the people we must live in it with.

Most of all, it's great to be back!
by Martin
Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:19 am
 
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Re: I win I lose I win you win. I'm not Dave Chappelle

Good luck with whatever illness you have. But yeah, your actions in your time as Dojo commander will never be forgotten. Worst moderator ever.

Does is anger you to see that I'm unbanned, and there's nothing you can do about it? :lol:
by Martin
Wed Aug 29, 2012 2:32 pm
 
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Re: Something Cool you saw today

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m3-xw_BOwo[/youtube]
by Martin
Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:59 am
 
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Re: Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed

Since I'm being accused of being a <insert d word here> all over the internet, I'll qualify my Vectorman statement a little more. I thought the sticky out tongue smiley would indicate there was more to it than face value...

You won't be playing as Vectorman, in so much as he's not a selectable playable character, either as the driver or part of the vehicle.

There are some reasons for this.

First, we're making a game for a modern day gaming audience. As much as we like to include older characters and references for fans, we have a limited ability to do this as we're making a modern game to appeal to a modern audience. There is a good chance that many players of the game wouldn't have even been born when the final Vectorman game came out. Don't forget the character hasn't been the main star of a game since the Megadrive/Genesis era...

Second, we have rules on the vehicle design for the game. Everything has to be no smaller (or bigger) than a given footprint. Everyone complained the bikes last time had an advantage, they were harder to hit, could squeeze through small gaps other vehicles couldn't - and this has been one rule change we've made to ensure the game is more balanced and fairer. As Vectorman would have more than likely been required to be a motorbike (in keeping with the original game) - he was ruled out on these grounds too.

Third - and we've stressed this more than enough - we have to build a character roster that has variety, that is interesting, and which appeals to fans old and new. Part of that is representing characters from all ages of SEGA, and we still have some Genesis era ones to reveal, part of it is as the type of character is already represented, and part of it is that we weren't genuinely convinced that the character as it stood would be considered desirable by a modern audience (Daddy, what is that robot made of balls?).

That's before we get into the 'Who owns the license' question - but that's one for another day.

Does that mean that Vectorman isn't in the game FULL STOP. Maybe, maybe not. Look at this -> :P

You complain when we don't de-confirm, you complain when we do. You can't have it both ways. You also can't assume these decisions are taken lightly. We know how important characters are to people and we do our best to represent this is many ways. Be they playable characters, hazards, cameos, references in speech, achievements, musical cues and more.

But there are many valid reasons why every single character who has ever appeared in a SEGA game or on a SEGA system can't all be in one game.

And this is an example of why we come in here and talk. We have to manage your expectations sometimes. A lot of the time, what you want from the game isn't always what can be realistically done.

If someone wants to offer us an infinite budget and no time limits whatsoever, we'll happily put a team together to make a game with every single character in it that you want. We'll even include every genre of game ever, and have the entirety of Shenmue 3 in as a mini-game :P You might have to wait in Nukem timescales though.

The reality is, we don't have infinite budget or time. So get used to the idea that everything you want or demand won't happen - and in the meantime accept that we're doing the best we can within the limits we have.

You can now of course continue to accuse me of being a <insert d word here>, but at least you'll have to do it with the proper hard facts to hand :)

---
S0L
---

Contrary to Crimson Ryan, I totally see where this guy is coming from. They don't have infinite time or budget. SEGA themselves are not doing very well at the moment, so I imagine the contract Sumo got wouldn't have been in the billions or anything. Sumo Digital are a fantastic development team, and have worked with SEGA very closely for nearly a decade now. They are clearly huge SEGA fans, aware of the heritage, and blatantly grew up on Mega Drive themselves (Sumo are an English team, and the MD was way more popular than the SNES in the UK and Europe).

So what if Ryo isn't in it? This game looks way too awesome to not buy if you're a SEGA fan. I'm getting this.
by Martin
Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:18 pm
 
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Re: Games/Systems/Peripherals you recently bought

For someone I hate with a passion, you sure have a fabulous taste in retro video games. If I could stop myself from caving your fucking head in, we could have some excellent times together with our respective collections. I have modified: Mega Drive, Super Famicom, and N64 with a wide collection of games for all three. I have some other stuff non-modified, with less-extensive collections. My favourite items are my limited edition NTSC Majora's Mask and my Bare Knuckle III.

http://i46.tinypic.com/4gi3c5.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/zthyx1.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/rr32xd.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/2mmxwtd.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/k1cord.jpg
by Martin
Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:02 pm
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

A naked black man tearing up petrol station.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY-Oe9yKVCM[/youtube]

They guy singing "black man don't care" had me in stiches! XD
by Martin
Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:10 am
 
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Re: Post a PM

The VGM wrote:?
Sent: Mon Jan 31, 2005 11:44 pm
From: The VGM
To: Martin


You're a white nerd.


This is the oldest PM in my box, and probably the best. :lol:
by Martin
Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:13 pm
 
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Re: American vs. PAL vs. Japanese

A couple latter-day N64 classics which I have, in all their guises. These two were both released in 2000, I believe.

Perfect Dark
PAL
http://i50.tinypic.com/rjhaxg.jpg
NTSC-U
http://i45.tinypic.com/2wlzkuw.jpg
NTSC-J
http://i45.tinypic.com/ta0dog.jpg

One of my all-time favourites. I have it in PAL and NTSC-U, but not the Japanese one. I'm gonna say that I like the Japanese cover art best with this one. Even though it wasn't a Japanese game (MADE IN BLIGHTY, FUCKERS!), NOJ gave it an awesome cover art in that region. As I understand it, the Japanese never really took to FPS games. So I guess that was Nintendo's way of tricking people over there into buying it? Whatever - awesome cover for a game that probably nobody in Japan bought.

The difference between the PAL and US box arts is weird. At a glance, they seem very similar. Then you realise that they are, in fact, totally different, made from totally different assets/what have you. Not sure which I prefer. There's cool things about both. If I had to choose, I would say the US box art just nabs it. The two Joannas are in a similar pose, and the intent is similar. While PAL Jo looks more like she does in the game (design-wise), and it's nice how the system info isn't taking up a border on the right, but transparently laid unto the art.. there's just something badass about the US box art. Just the laser and her gleaming eyes in the dark, which better suits the game. Slightly.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
PAL
http://i50.tinypic.com/1zvydr9.jpg
NTSC-U
http://i45.tinypic.com/20qj3p4.jpg
NTSC-J
http://i49.tinypic.com/2me7squ.jpg

Another one of my all-time favourites. Again, the Japanese box art is wildly-different to the others, which also again are fairly similar to each other. I don't know if it's just because, in my part of the world at least, they have some 'exotic' vibe, but I love the art on my Japanese games. They're just wacky, and fantastic to look at. I'm sure there's a big falsehood on my part, there. For as much as I think my Japanese Banjo-Kazooie has awesome art, the western releases had art which was much more in-line with the content of the game.

Back to MM. Love this game to pieces. Between the Collector's Edition US box (of which I could not find a 'regular' flavour), and the standard green PAL box, I have to say I much prefer the PAL box art. Same title with a different background, essentially. Whilst I can totally see where they were going with the US one (madness/power exuding from the Mask of Majora), it just looks kind of shit. Like a filter sloppily-applied in Photoshop. Conversely, the PAL box contains some beautiful art hidden in shades of green. This looks like it could have been as equally a quick effort in Photoshop, but the difference (to my eye) is that the latter looks good. Also, we again see the transparent system info overlaid onto otherwise uninterrupted art on the PAL box. NOE were doing this around this time, wonder why the other regions weren't?

Gonna give this one to PAL in the west, and I can't decide between PAL or Japanese overall.

P.S. However, the hologram on my US cart blows away my shitty PAL one :D
by Martin
Sun Sep 09, 2012 11:29 pm
 
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Re: Oddest Food You Had (Or Wanna Try)

Yeah, I've had a spoonful of tinned dog food before. Thought I was gonna be just like Mad Max. What happened is I actually couldn't even swallow it. Disgusting.

Here's a question; would you try human meat? Under normal circumstances, I would not. It's a stupid idea, since livestock are kept under very strict conditions, typically not allowed to move around much, and are slaughtered by the time they're a year old. This produces sumptuous, juicy meat.

Since looking at a human, you can tell that the animal is neither raised nor bred for its meat. Therefore one would be looking for adult specimens, whom have had 20 or so years of life. The meat would be very stringy, chewy and tough, indeed. Also, unlike livestock, the typical human specimen is not kept in a controlled environment. You would be opening yourself up to all sorts of toxins, blood-born viruses and pathogens.

Still, in an apocalypse scenario, I think I'd quickly become a cannibal once all the pre-apocalypse food runs out. I've got a way with words, and I think I could do well luring people to their slaughter. Tastes just like pork, anyway.
by Martin
Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:52 am
 
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Re: Oddest Food You Had (Or Wanna Try)

KiBa wrote: there was this zombie disease that the people would get from human flesh, like rabies in a dog, that would cause brain damage and extreme violence and laughter in the affected cannibal.


I hope to live like this, one day.
by Martin
Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:22 am
 
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Re: Your Favourite Theories

The one i remember is that Ryo fights all the way through the Chiyoumen HQ and finally gets to LanDi, but its where he learns that Lan Di was a puppet for the "Tentai" of the organisation. Lan Di realises that he was on the wrong side all along, and that he, like Ryo is fatherless. Together they take on the entire Chiyoumen Double Dragon style :lol:

I like the sound of that! I found my theory ! Basically, the theory was (fuck it, IS ) that Ryo is so emotionless because he was sexually-abused as a child by Iwao. It ends with Shenmue III starting as Ryo wakes from a dream to find his dad on top of him. The idea was to craft a theory that explained everything , if I remember.

It is my belief that the truth of Shenmue underlies the beautiful fecade of asian culture, and 1980s espionage. I believe that my theory explains anomalies/inconsistancies within the game, and it's storyline. You've definitely never heard a Shenmue theory quite like this one, so please open your minds, and consider these things (a closed mind is like a closed fist).

To begin with, let's consider the facts (every good theory starts with the facts). What do we have? A young man (Ryo Hazuki), avenging his fathers' (Iwao Hazuki) death, in 1980s Asia (Japan and China, thus far). Said young man embarks upon an adventure across a whole continent. From his little suburban paradice in a little Yokosuka culdesac, the the lush sweeping landscape of Guilin (thus far). It's an adventure, alright. However, I believe that there is more here than meets the eye.

Now, where do I start? I believe that Iwao was an extremely abusive father, who ruled the Hazuki household with an iron fist, ever since Ryo has known him (" Eat your FUCKING carrots! "), up to the day he was killed. Where do I get this idea from? Well, one look at Ryo should be enough. Any psychiatrist could take one look at Ryo, and tell you that he has some very deep-seated problems, stemming from an extremely troubled childhood (anything from mental, to extreme sexual abuse).

You can see it with the way he interects with the world around him. He clearly sees everything through a child's eyes. His sheer sense of wonder at picking random objects up, and scrutinizing them, is textbook child behavior. His fascination with toys is a more obvious example of this. Collecting capsule toys of SEGA games is something children do, and 18-year-old men do neither of the above.

You can also see it in the way he interects with others. Ryo never seems at ease with strangers, especially members of the opposite sex (even ones that he knows). He is often quite rude (unintentionally), and clearly doesn't know how to communicate, on a first-time basis. You don't just go up to complete strangers, asking " Excuse me, where can I find some sailors around here? ". Of course, we all know this, and would go about asking the same question very differently.

However, because of Ryo's troubled upbringing, he lacks communication skills for a person of his age. Where you or I would take time out to introduce ourselves, explain our plight (at least a little), and slowly introduce our question, so that it will not seem so worryingly obscure and random, Ryo happily blurts out all these weird and wonderful inquesitions just as they appear to him in his head. 18 year-olds do not act in this manner.

The juxtaposition of Ryo's 'quest' is also a part of my theory. If Ryo is determined enough not to let the sexual advances of gorgeous women get in the way of his mission (he could have at least kissed Nozomi, with tongues, on several occasions, and Joy asked him to stay at her apartment , obviously for sex), then how can things like arcades, capsule toy machines, arm-wrestling, darts (etc..) so easily distract him? Surely sex would be the top of any 18-year-old males' list? Not Ryo. Everything he does and says bleeds innosense.

What I am leading up to, is that Ryo clearly has the mental age of a child, brought about by severe physical, mental, and possibly even sexual abuse, at the hands of his father, Iwao. Sexual abuse? Notice how, not once, not ever does Ryo change his clothing. It's not because he's lazy, or that he doesn't believe in washing, or even simply that he is a slob. No. Ryo is afraid of nudity, specifically; being naked himself .

This irrational fear obvisouly inhibits his ability to wear fresh clothing everyday, and is (in my view) brought on by the sexual abuse he experianced as a child. He thinks, in that little immature mind of his, that if he never takes his clothes off, then daddy can't come into his room at night and sodomise him, whilst stroking his face and whispering " You're daddy's little boy, aren't you? ". He thinks that daddy will never be able to hurt him, ever again, if he doesn't get undressed. Doing so brings it all back.

Next on my 'hit-list' is Ryo's mother. Her 'death' fits in perfectly with my theory. I believe she was possibly murdered by Iwao, or left him for another man. Iwao, being the extremely abusive, and probably sexualy distant man that he was, drove his wife to the brink of dispair. For, how can you maintain a loving relationship with a man who not only physically abuses you, but is also non-existant in the bedroom? She couldn't, and left for China (where she almost certainly came from, judging by her belongings in the basement). Either of the above would fit. I'm in two minds of which is the correct version of events, so I mentioned both possibilities.

Now we must consider Ine-san and Fuku-san. They are like polar opposites, both to each other, and to Ryo. Ine-san is the very image of a broken woman. For many years she has lived under constant fear of the master of the house, and has probably been the victim/witness of many beatings, assaults, and general Hazuki household nastiness. She was no doubt the individual charged with the task of explaining away Ryo's odd behavior and physical injuries to his mother. Ryo pities her, and sees her as a maturnal figure, but a pitiful one. She may have even been a sexual slave of Iwao's, though I doubt this.

From the evidence at hand, I believe Iwao was a closet homosexual, who felt it his duty (long standing tradition) to wed with a beautiful woman, and concieve an heir to his legacy. As such, Iwao felt that the birth of Ryo satisfied this 'need'. However, this invariably led to Iwao taking his sexual frustrations out on Ryo, and much of his anger (resultant from his sexual frustrations) out on his wife, and Ine-san/Ryo, to a lesser extent. At this time in Japan, it was definitely not exceptable for a man of Iwao's status to be gay. Iwao was indeed a monster that society created.

While I'm on the subject, I do not believe that Ryo's mother cared much for Ryo, for she would have either killed Iwao (instead of being killed by him as I stated in possibility 1), or taken him with her (instead of just leaving as I stated in possibility 2). Not that she had always been so flippant about her son. Far from it. She most likely spent much of her time in that household, under constant fear for her very life. Suffering from such conditions, for such a prolonged period of time (we're talking years ) wears a person down, eventually to a point where they don't care about anything.

This inevitably leeds to Ryo's mother becoming a heavy drinker. Iwao was a man of exacting ruthlessness. He would never allow something like alcohol to cloud his terrifying judgement whilst at home, to make him appear weak. Ryo's mother, on the other hand, needed an escape, and almost certainly found one in alcohol. Anything to numb the pain. The only thing readily available to a Japanese housewife of this period to fit the bill was of course; Alcohol. This leads to a conclusion, almost without doubt, that (at least in her later years, before she died/left) Ryo's mother was hitting the bottle everyday, and hitting it hard. She probably didn't even know she had a son, by the end.

Back to Fuku-san. Herepresents an anomoly in the Hazuki household. In the game, when speaking of Iwao, Fuku-san is the only one who seems truly sad at his passing. Ine-san seems like an emotionally-scarred, physically fragile woman (potentially from years of beatings), who seems asif she should be upset, not that she actually is (of course she isn't). Ryo seems so distant, and emotionally handicapped, both from a life of physical and mental torture, and from conflicting feeling at his father's demise, of what he should feel, and what he actually does. Fuku-san is the odd one out of the household. Why is this..?

Well, I believe that Fuku-san was never exposed to Iwao's evil side. The latest to join the household, I think that Fuku-san represents Iwao's opportunity to change, to start again. For Iwao wasn't truly evil. He wanted to be a good man. It was too late for Ryo, who he had already sodomised and beaten. He could never have a real father/son relationship with Ryo. He could scare Ryo into pretending (and he often did), but they both knew it was a sham. He could never give Ryo back his innocense. However, Fuku-san joining the house presented an opportunity for Iwao to play 'father' with someone who didn't know any better. With a boy who was very ugly, and posed no attractiveness on any sexual level. Iwao revelled in this newfound relationship.

This can be seen in-game, when Fuku-san is generally appalled at Iwao's death. Iwao was like a father to him. A role which Iwao no-doubt cherished and lived to it's fullest, just to feel normal (if only for a little while). He lovingly refers to him as 'Hazuki-sensei', a statement not to be ignored or under-minded. If this is the case, then shouldn't Ryo hate Fuku-san? No. Ryo sees Fuku-san as the only innocent person in the Hazuki household. He reminds him of how he should have been raised. In these solumb thoughts, Ryo finds comfort, if only a little bit. Fuku-san represents the only remaining ounce of purity in that house, which has not been defiled by it's master, or failed to speak out and end Ryo's suffering (something which Ryo holds contemp for his Ine-san, and in particular, his mother).

Nozomi is also another ingredient in this mix, which perpetuates Ryo's self-torment. For, while Ryo is mentally immature, he does recognise that he should be doing certain things. Things like dating, etc. Nozomi represents a small attemped on his part, to reach out for the life that he should be leading, which is downplayed and eventually ruined by Ryo's own haphazardness in these situations, brought on by mental instability, self-loathing, and general feelings of worthlessness. Ryo is in many ways, the complete negative of his father. Where Iwao definitely had a superiority-complex (brought on by his secret homosexualty, and his attemps to compensate and appear normal), Ryo, by contrast, suffers from an inferiority -complex. This is evident throughout his entire adventure, though becomes less prominent, the further into his quest he gets.

So if all this is true, why does Ryo chase Lan Di? Shouldn't he be relieved at his father's murder, and just live the rest of his life a happy man, finally free from the tirrany of Iwao Hazuki? Well, her's where Ryo's sense of self-loathing, brought on by his confused and under-developed emotions comes in. Firstly, Ryo thinks that, if he avenges his father's death, he will show loyalty to his father's legacy (important in Japanese society). Secondly (more importantly), if Ryo succeeds, he will finally have 'beat' his father. Iwao instilled feelings of self-hate, and worthlessness within Ryo. Completing such a long, dangerous quest will prove to Iwao, and to himself that he is not 'worthless', and can accomplish great things. Doing so would mean that Ryo no longer lives in his father's terrifying shadow. Maybe then, the nightmares, the self-loathinfg, and constant feeling of utter dread will go away. Lan Di is just the key. The treasure at the end of the rainbow, if you will.

As Ryo's journey takes him to Hong Kong and beyond, we see him begin to come out of his shell, the invisible barrier he uses to keep the world at bay, to protect himself. He starts to show feelings of indepenace, and self-worth. In Shenmue II, partakes in things such as gambling, street fighter (for money, not self-defence), etc. Things which his father would never permit. Ryo begins, if only slightly, to rebel against Iwao, against his memory, and what he stood for. The cave sequence near the end of the second game is further evidence of this. Ryo is alone , at night , with a pretty girl . Sure, nothing happens, and Ryo is still obviously battling his demons at this point (otherwise he'd have shagged her), but he is slowly recovering from years of abuse.

Normally, Ryo would never ever allow himself to get into this situation, with an attractive member of the opposite sex. Remember the several occasions where he practically shuns Nozomi, or the time he turns down the opportunity of staying at a gorgeous biker babes' home, in favour of a cold lonely bed, in a unfriendly hotel, run by a shady man obsessed with gambling. This is the first time that Ryo begins to allow nature to take it's course, the first time that he is not outwardly afraid of his feelings towards the opposite sex, or their advances towards him. He is at this point, beginning to understand his feelings of sexual attraction towards women, instead of running away from them.

This (I believe) is brought on by his slowly increasing feelings of independance and self-worth. Also, Shen Hua is not a member of everday society, that which shunned him and cursed him to an eighteen year nightmare. Shen Hua presents no threat to him, only feelings of awe and wonder. She is also innocent, naive, and quite child-like. She reminds him of himself, and he feels very comfortable with her. The cave sequence is the first time his 'shell' truly starts to crack. The first time he really starts to open up to someone.

Which brings me to my theory, in it's ultimate form. My theory ends in one of two possibilities, of which the reader (you) must decide for youselves which you believe in. Given everthything that has been said, Ryo's journey is not to avenge his father at all, but to prove his own worth , and to 'beat' his father. If he succeeds, daddy can never hurt him. Never again. Then the nightmares, the self-loathing, everything. It'll all stop, and Ryo will be able to get on with his life, and grow as a person, and not fear that which cannot hurt him anymore. That is the first, and most immediate possibility.

The second, and more 'out there' possibility, is the one I happen to adhere to, for it provides all the same answers that Actual Theory Possibility 1 does, while answering/addressing some anomolies which 'Possibility 1 does not. I believe, that, all said and true to this point, the entire journey is fake. I believe it is nothing but a dream. I believe Ryo is dreaming his adventure. It would explain how Ryo magically arrives in Hong Kong in less than 10 minutes from finishing Shenmue I, to starting Shenmue II. More importantly, it would explain how he can spontaneously and flawlessly communicate with the chinese-speaking Hong Kong/Kowloon/Guilin populus.

It would in fact, provide a good answer for the whole journey, and it's general surreal quality, and lack of realism. Dreams often become wilder and more strange the further you get into them. I believe the introduction of supernatural occurances is no coinsidence, and it merely the consequence of a dream, taking his natural course. Ryo getting beaten to a pulp by a bunch of punks, then waking up safe and sound on Wong's boat seems very unlikely to me. That, and the event's inconsistancy with the events that transpired at the end of the first game, namely, the 70 man battle. If Ryo can take on and beat 70 men (admittedly with the help of Guizang), then surely a few punks should pose little problem.

Who placed all those planks? Why was that jumbo jet suicidely skimming the tops of the fucking buildings? These strange occurances, and many more (magical mirrors, mystical trees), are (in my opinion) simply the result of a dream taking it's natural course, becoming more obscure as it goes on. Shenmue is merely a dream which Ryo is having. Ryo lives in utter dread of his father, and his dreams are the only place where he can truly be free. Iwao can't take his dreams away from him. The end of Shenmue II (at the point where it is at it's most obscure) seems to be the end of the dream. Everything goes all strange looking, everything stops, the sound fades away. I think these symbolise Ryo slowly drifting out of sleep and into conciousness.

As such, I predict that Shenmue III, if ever released, will start with Ryo opening his eyes, and seeing his father's shadowy figure over him, carressing his face and softly whispering " You're daddy's little boy.. ". This would also explain why Shenmue III has never been released, and will never be released, as the game/concept becomes to outlandish for SEGA execs to condone, and give the green light to. My theory explains everything. All the inconsistancies, Ryo's lack of character, all the symbolism, everything. Everything . I believe there's not a Shenmue-related question you could pose which my theory couldn't provide a good possible answer to. I don't think you could say that about any other Shenmue theory. Hence the title.

Discuss.

Damn, I was awesome back then!

:lol:
by Martin
Wed Sep 12, 2012 4:12 am
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. After having 100% on the first two on 360, it's finally time to beat this one. I must say, even though BK fans tend to diss this one, I love it. It's basically classic Banjo-Kazooie, except the transformations of old are replaced by building your own 'transformations'. The platforming element is much reduced, but that's OK. In my opinion, most of those who decry Nuts & Bolts for not being a platformer probably haven't played Banjo-Tooie. That game took the old BK platforming formula to it's ultimate extent.

Aside from the graphics, there's really nothing they could have improved. 'Tooie is massive, and the later levels are ridiculously-complex. The levels are all interconnected, and some jiggies require a lot of work. I remember one in Jolly Roger's Lagoon which requires work in three different worlds to get. Nuts & Bolts is awesome, I don't care what anyone says. Not just a great game, but a great BK game. Such immense fan-service in N&B.
by Martin
Thu Sep 13, 2012 4:12 pm
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

nzk0 wrote: I'm not sure this was posted but I won't go back 200 pages so here it is lol

-Cat's Eyes-


Thank you, that video made me laugh very hard! Here's one that also made me laugh today..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCgUaogz7lc[/youtube]

:rotflmao:
by Martin
Fri Sep 14, 2012 3:19 pm
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

May I just say that this might be the greatest thread I've ever seen on a forum. You guys rock, and it's nice to be able to post again.

:)
by Martin
Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:41 am
 
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Re: Cokehead

I love you, Kenny, but let me get this straight; in four years you've yet to actually make much out of this? I understand you've got commitments/responsibilities, but I'm sorry, you can make a comic strip with that kind of art quite quickly. You could've spent two/three hours a week on it, and you'd have done it in a couple months, tops.

I haven't read the whole thread, so you may have done lots. The impression I get from the last couple pages is that you have one issue done, and one in a state of incompletion? I love the style, but it looks pretty quick to actually draw it. How can this have taken you four years?

Sorry if I'm being a dick. I don't mean to. I like the idea and the concept of the story very much, I just don't see how you could have accomplished so little on this in such a large span of time. If you don't want this taking so long that you hate it by the time you finish it - dedicate some time each week to it. Even if it's a small amount. Otherwise by the time it's done, you'll be a different person, and the urge to go back in changing things will be large, making it take even more time.

Don't be a comic book version of George Broussard.
by Martin
Sat Sep 15, 2012 5:28 pm
 
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Re: So whatever happened to...

1. "Save the best til last". It really is the most talked about game of the Dreamcasts tenure. Wether you loved it or hated, it it still got people talking. Someone severely hating Shenmue and thinking its boring is as valuable to me in terms of its legacy because its as much an emotion given towards it, so its re-release will be the most talked about game from the Dreamcasts list of games. Also, its easily the biggest game, in terms of size, following, and legacy so its a good game to possibly be the last Dreamcast title to be released, at least for a sustained period of time.

I don't see it as the same thing. I know 'any publicity is good publicity', but in the gaming world this generally only equates to controversy. Something like GTA or Manhunt kicking up a stick, thereby generating interest, thereby boosting sales. If Shenmue is known as a shit game, that will not encourage sales.

2. The bigger and more logical reason of the two for me, is that it surely will take a long time to upscale this entire game, both visually and audibly. All of the items, locations, characters...... i mean if you forget how huge Shenmue is, just spend your first day in the Hazuki household and try to lift every possible item, explore every possible room and also open every cupboard. I did it last night, and i didnt get to visit Fukuhara in the dojo until 9.45pm. This game is huge. Fact. Having to sit and go through its entirety will be no easy feat, and also not one that can be achieved overnight.

I don't think the graphical 'upscale' is really much of an issue. If you look at the existing Dreamcast HD re-releases, the only actual work done to the graphics is in the fonts/menus and so forth. All that is done to the game itself is that the framebuffer is told to spit out rasters at 1920 × 1080 or 1280×720, rather than 640 x 480, which was the SD 4:3 that the Dreamcast version would have been coded for.

I'm sure it's not quite that simple, but it's not a big issue. Sure, they'll have had to tinker with the graphics engine in some instances so that geometry is rendered all the way out to the edges of the 16:9 aspect, but that's about it. I guess in Crazy Taxi HD they had to do new textures for stores and stuff, because the licence to include KFC and GAP etc had expired. But Shenmue doesn't have any real-world IPs or anything that'd need to be changed.

Redo the fonts and menus in HD, make sure the graphics engine can deal with the widescreen aspect, rasterise the graphics at HD rather than SD. Done.

The audio of Shenmue (not VA work) is what doesnt age as well as the rest of the game. I have been playing Shenmue again with a VGA box and LCD TV and it looks as close to HD as you could get, but you can tell the quality of the audio isnt up there, especially with gaming headphones on. Again,this is something that will take some time. Add to that, if they are also going to include both native VA with subtitles, as so many fans have requested. Again more time.

I agree with you, here. The soundtrack is beautiful, and the music needn't change. A lot of the sound effects are quite low-fi, though. I actually would include the VO in this assessment. So a decision would need to be made; leave as it is, or redo this stuff. In my opinion, this would mean redoing all the voice work as well. I'd be fine just leaving the sound how it is, personally.

Then there is also additional features that Sega would surely want to incorporate into the game. First thing that comes to mind is the difference of todays controllers compared to the Dreamcast controller, namely a second analogue stick. Obviously for Shenmue, this would be used as a camera stick, and some sort of freedom camera development would have to be organised. If this is to be a double planned release, then not only would i say it would take double the time to do so, but id say it would take more than double the time for it all to be finished.

Well, the 'free camera on right stick' thing was already implemented into Shenmue II Xbox. So not exactly a new feature, or a headache. It's already been done in Shenmue.

I do believe that Shenmue has been in development for DLC. I also feel that Ben Harborne was more or less announcing this with his interviews earlier in the year. I have watched the two interviews a load of times, and in the first, he practically couldnt wait to say Shenmue. In the second interview, he made a slight joke about it with his facial features. I still maintain its coming. Just gotta be patient.

I'm in two minds about this, personally. While it could be seen as clandestine confirmation, it could also just be the Sega are eminently aware of Shenmue's fierce little fanbase. We love our game, and over the years we've clung to to any pathetic glimmer of hope as if it were confirmation. After all these years, I still can't go on Kotaku without feeling betrayed.

I would personally just see it as a nod to the Shenmue fans, that they haven't forgotten it or us. It's clear that a lot of people within Sega love Shenmue, but it's a financial-minefield. Pretty much nobody cares about Shenmue except it's creators and relatively small base of fans. It's like the The Grim Fandango in that respect. Awesome game, fiercely loyal little fanbase. Not much else.

It's for that reason that I'm loathe to see Harborne's comments as anything near to confirmation. He confirmed nothing. At most, I would personally say that his comments confirm that certain people within the company are looking for any way they can release Shenmue HD without losing money. In my opinion, that would mean fairly basic ports in the style of Jet Set Radio HD with nothing done to them except HD fonts and menus. If we're lucky - online leaderboards for the arcade machines.

I believe nobody would buy it except the fans, and for that reason, if we do get it, it's not going to be all remade up to top-notch standards. It's going to be as basic a port as they can get away with.

I'm fine with that, too. I just want Shenmue again. I've gone through enough Dreamcasts now to not ever want to bother with them again. I've got my two favourite games gathering dust. It's been years now since I've played Shenmue. To play it again in HD, widescreen on my reliable console which works all the time without giving me any bullshit would be wonderful, and I think that's probably the market for any Shenmue HD.
by Martin
Sat Sep 15, 2012 6:07 pm
 
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Re: So whatever happened to...

:lol:

Christ sakes bud, i will buy you a Dreamcast if you want.

Hah, you're OK. If I do buy another one, it'll be to make my Satcast.

Also i am not technically minded in how these games are developed, but i still think that due to the overall size of Shenmue (it is the biggest game on the DC) that it will take quite a while.

Well basically, simply upping screen resolution is essentially no effort at all. When I say 'rasterising' I'm referring to how the frames are converted from polygonal vectors into raster graphics; i.e. pixels. This is the last stage of the rendering pipeline, and is done so that your TV/monitor (a raster device) can display the image. Rasterising eats up fillrate, and higher resolutions demand more powerful hardware.

Ergo, in these Dreamcast HD offerings where all the textures and models remain completely untouched, the 'extra work' to display the game in HD resolutions is being done by the hardware, not the developers. They simply have to change the line of code in the rendering pipeline to tell its to render at 720p or whatever instead of 480i.

There are other things they have to do, such as redoing the fonts and menus. These would look bad in HD, since they'd either be tiny and unreadable, or take up their original amount of screen space (by scaling them), but be very pixellated. I suppose in the latter instance they could employ a filter to smooth the pixels, but this generally produces less-than-ideal results. A HD re-release (notice I'm not using the word 'remake') done right would at least have remade fonts and menus.

The biggest thing would be making the game run on new architecture. The Dreamcast code itself wouldn't just work on 360 and PS3. The latter two have PowerPC-based CPUs, whilst the Dreamcast CPU is SuperH-based. Both are grounded in RISC, but there would be many differences. They'd be reprogramming a lot of the language calls so that everything works. They'd probably emulate the Dreamcast for tiny chunks of the codebase in order to make some jobs easier.

Then there'd be the differences between 360 and PS3. Former has DirectX API, latter has a variant of OpenGL. They'd develop it primarily for one (probably 360), then use wrappers to emulate API calls on the other one.

In short: most of the real work would be nothing to do with the graphics as such, but stuff under the hood.

The only reason i place so much emphasis on Harbornes interview though, was his openness in regards to mentioning Shenmue, in regards to a Sega standpoint. If any employee from Sega was questioned about Shenmue, they seemed to have had a well rehersed response, or even none at all. But Harborne wasnt even provoked to say Shenmue, he was asked a generic question which he could have answered in any way at all.

Personally, I'd say that just amounts to 'hearing what you want to hear'. I'd love to be wrong, though!
by Martin
Sat Sep 15, 2012 7:58 pm
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYAFoso0CLk[/youtube]

:heart:
by Martin
Sat Sep 15, 2012 8:52 pm
 
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Re: Music: Do it Justice

Well, I would say good speakers. Headphones are nice for clarity, but you only feel bass shaking your ribcage with speakers :P
by Martin
Sat Sep 15, 2012 1:41 pm
 
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Re: Promotional marketing idea's for Shenmue HD

Show people the game, this time.
by Martin
Sun Sep 16, 2012 3:35 am
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-PegaXlZFo[/youtube]
by Martin
Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:19 am
 
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Re: The new Robocop suit

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yuaUCKFII[/youtube]
by Martin
Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:18 am
 
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Re: The new Robocop suit

Good point, Keebs! Needless to say, I don't like the look of this new RoboCop already. Loved the original film.
by Martin
Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:44 am
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpPnK2Bl0Pk[/youtube]
by Martin
Thu Sep 20, 2012 6:05 am
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

I personally question this whole "Resident Evil has betrayed oldschool RE fans" thing. Yes, the classic ones had a tense atmosphere and 'scare factor' (and much better storyline) that RE4-et al do not. How much of that is honestly down to the controls/camera angles, though? In the original game, a Hunter makes me shit my pants. Especially when I can't see it. I hear that shriek, and immediately start running. Thing is, Mr. Hunter can make his way around flawlessly and with ease, whereas I struggle not to run into walls and such.

Then there's the pant-wetting boss battles of the old games. All the more scary because you can't just avoid them. They have to be defeated. Aiming is a bitch, sometimes even seeing where you're going/the location of the boss is a hazard in itself. We came to love these elements, but we've forgotten about how they made the game. All those things are core to a horror film, as well. An assailant who cannot be seen, protagonists who can't aim for shit, etc.

Even with the scarcity of ammo, gimme RE5 perspective/controls/etc in RE1 and I'll breeze through it, headshots all the way. Thus diminishing the horror-factor. For me, Resident Evil (as a storyline) ceases to exist after Nemesis (or at an absolute stretch - CODE: Veronica). The storyline just got ridiculous, it wasn't scary anymore, etc.

For my money, you only need to look at the title to see RE6 isn't going to be all-conquering. It's a story-based franchise that hasn't had any good story for the last three major instalments. It's reached it's sixth instalment, and third pointless-one-in-a-row as far as the storyline is concerned. I bet it ends with a cliffhanger for RE7.

That's not to say it's a bad game , I would just personally call it a bad Resident Evil game. But that's because I have a very set image in my mind when I think of RE, and ever since RE4 the games haven't matched the image or the certain kind of 'experience' that I expect.

The nearest any post-fixed camera angle/tank controls RE got to horror was one of the canned version of RE4, dubbed the 'Hook Man' version, which I'm sure you've all seen by now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN31-3og5SI

In my opinion, all these other ones could have just as easily been different IPs about zombies. Still, gotta love cash cows.
by Martin
Thu Sep 20, 2012 10:41 am
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

I have opened the door back to Spiral Mountain in Nuts & Bolts. I'm going to hold off until I have every last collectible. I get so OCD with these collectathon games. Must. Have. Everything ! The more I play this game, the more I love it. Fantastic entry in the BK series. Even though it got good scores, it seems 'underrated' in some ethereal way. People, if you have a 360, get this game! If you're really awesome, you'll get the first two on XBLA and 100% them as well.

Martin, I just read your post, and I gotta ask... Were you pissed when you wrote it? Fair enough, you can see both sides of the argument, but the whole thing reads like you're proving yourself wrong. Either that or you have MPD.

I mean, to say that you question the notion that Capcome betrayed RE's core fan base, and then explain why they have betrayed them doesn't really make any sense...

Good point! Basically what I meant was that I question the notion that the games have gotten 'worse'. They haven't (other than the storyline). Quite the contrary - and therein lies the problem.
by Martin
Thu Sep 20, 2012 11:19 pm
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

:lol: wow they were desperate for the N64 one.

As Ryudo says, they're wrong. Well, I think they are. The title of the poster incorporates the word 'redesign'. I suppose the Pokemon N64 is a redesign of sorts, but not in the same way all the others are. It's merely a 'themed' N64. In terms of making it smaller, lighter, etc.. it doesn't count at all. It's no 'slim' N64. Nor was there one.

Personally, I like to take these redesigned consoles with a pinch of salt. Again with the N64, there are various models with differing guts. You can only do the RGB mod on the launch model, for example. The N64 circuitry was simplified over the course of it's life (just as all consoles are), it merely never received a new form-factor for it's outer-shell.

This is true for all consoles. There are many different variants of the PS3 slim, for example. Completely different guts.
by Martin
Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:00 am
 
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Re: Great Videogame Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6c0mSjHEs8

Beautiful piano rendition of the Jolly Roger's Lagoon theme from Banjo-Tooie. This guy is so talented! The dynamics are wonderful. Starts out full of life, soundingjust like the tune from the game (but on piano), then it gets all sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80eFXnb9Uro

Same guy, same kind of thing. Beautiful.
by Martin
Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:11 am
 
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Re: Gaming thoughts of the day

N & B is just terrible. I already posted Jon Tron but everything he said is correct.

Must say I don't agree, Ryudo. I probably love N&B just as much as the first two, which is saying a lot as they're two of my absolute favourite games. I said elsewhere more-or-less my opinion of N&B, why I think people don't like it, and why I love it and think it's totally Banjo-Kazooie.

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. After having 100% on the first two on 360, it's finally time to beat this one. I must say, even though BK fans tend to diss this one, I love it. It's basically classic Banjo-Kazooie, except the transformations of old are replaced by building your own 'transformations'. The platforming element is much reduced, but that's OK. In my opinion, most of those who decry Nuts & Bolts for not being a platformer probably haven't played Banjo-Tooie. That game took the old BK platforming formula to it's ultimate extent.

Aside from the graphics, there's really nothing they could have improved. 'Tooie is massive, and the later levels are ridiculously-complex. The levels are all interconnected, and some jiggies require a lot of work. I remember one in Jolly Roger's Lagoon which requires work in three different worlds to get. Nuts & Bolts is awesome, I don't care what anyone says. Not just a great game, but a great BK game. Such immense fan-service in N&B.

In short;

N64: Large hub world. = 360: Large hub world.
N64: Large sub worlds. = 360: Large sub worlds.
N64: Complete tasks to get jiggies/other collectibles. = 360: Complete tasks to get jiggies/other collectibles.
N64: Learn moves as you progress. = 360: Earn vehicle parts as you progress.
N64: Use new moves to get things you couldn't get earlier on. = 360: Use new parts to get things you couldn't get earlier on.
N64: Mumbo transforms you. = 360: Mumbo runs the garage where you transform yourself into whatever you want.
N64: Awesome humour and likeable characters. = 360: Awesome humour and likeable characters.
N64: Awesome music and overall sound design. = 360: Awesome music and overall sound design.
N64: Beautiful visuals for it's time. = 360: Beautiful visuals for it's time.

I think if people want more pure BK platforming, then they probably just haven't played the second game, and almost certainly haven't gotten the most out of the first two games. It's good that they twisted the BK formula slightly. At the start of 'Tooie you have all the moves from the first game. Keeping track of all of them was one thing. By the end of 'Tooie you got an insane amount of moves to remember. There's literally not enough buttons on N64 or 360 to keep track of them all, with some having slightly obtuse combinations to initiate.

That and the overall pant-shitting complexity and difficulty of 'Tooie in terms of real completion. 100% completion in Banjo-Kazooie was very difficult. Merely getting enough jiggies to face Grunty in the final battle of 'Tooie is just as difficult. 100% it is.. well. Let me just tell you that my 100% file of BK is 11 hours, whereas my 100% of BT is 22 hours. Banjo-Tooie is one hard fucking 3D platform game, and in my opinion, one of the ultimate examples of the genre. It's an insanely tough game to complete.

I wish before people write-off Nuts & Bolts as some kind of travesty to the series and fans, they'd make sure they've gotten the most out of the first two games. Every drop of gameplay (it is a collectathon, after all!). After doing that, I can't see how anyone what want the same thing again, just with better graphics and even higher levels of complexity/difficulty. As I said before, where the hell would all the new moves go? Not have new moves? That's lame.

I'm rabbiting. I love N&B, but it's OK to think it's shit as well if that's what you really think. Can't see why, personally!

Not liked a single thing Rare has made since N64. N & B looked pretty but hated it. I ave the first on N64 always have had Tooie on the list. Just not seen it in the wild yet.

It's an expensive game on N64. I had it on PAL (sold it for £70), but still have a loose NTSC cartridge. Selling all my PAL stuff. The loose cart cost me £30ish, I believe. OK deal.

Get it on 360 if you can. Better and cheaper. Nothing wrong with the original version of course, just the price.
by Martin
Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:19 pm
 
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Re: Billie Joe Armstrong losing his cool.

Apparently they took to the stage half an hour late, and that's why they didn't get to complete their set.
by Martin
Mon Sep 24, 2012 2:30 pm
 
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Re: Resident Evil

Has anyone played the demo yet?

Yeah, I played it on Sunday. Downloaded it off PSN since the 360 demo is Gold users only. Don't know if there's any difference between the respective demos. The one I played has three scenarios; Leon, Chris, and Jake. I played all three of them (an online user even jumped into my game on the Chris scenario). I don't have much to say that I didn't already say on the series. To me, everything since RE4 has been Resident Evil in-name-only. Everything since RE4 could quite easily have just been a new IP. Not that I 'dislike' the post-RE3 stuff, I thoroughly enjoyed RE4 and 5. But they just weren't RE.

Anyway, onto the demo. Seemed very much like RE5, just with some tweaks. Co-op gameplay throughout. It seems Capcom is set on making RE a massive multiplayer franchise. To be fair to them, RE5 was a fucking good time with a second player. In single-player, it was shit. RE6 seems much the same. A great two-player action game, a bad single-player action game. I found 5 was OK with an online player if they had a mic and you had a good connection to each other, but otherwise it was split-screen all the way for me. Haven't had a chance to split-screen this one (can you even do it?), and the one online experience I had in Chris' scenario wasn't all that. Some dude joined without a mic and died a lot.

The actual scenarios themselves.. meh. I really didn't enjoy any of it. In Leon's scenario I spent a lot of time just sprinting past the zombies to the clearly-marked objective, barely shooting off a round. Even on the bit in the alley with the weird human/dog things. Rather than try and kill them, just sprinted past, got to the waypoint marker, continued on to the next section. When I did shoot, I was getting a lot of headshots, and popping lots of heads. Yeah, the reticule moves about. Wasn't really a problem. With Chris' scenario, I just hosed everything down with my weaponry, hot-footing it to the objective. Much the same in Jake's scenario.

All in all, a pretty forgettable experience in my opinion.
by Martin
Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:31 am
 
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Re: Resident Evil

They're just never effective. They always look like a bunch of commercial actors trying too hard, rather than being movie-like, they way they're intended. The worst I've seen was really recently, for Borderlands 2. The live-action commercial looked like a bunch of idiot cosplayers running around a playground somewhere. It's just... bad.
Use game footage, or don't do a commercial at all, I say.

This!!

It's my firmly-held belief that the Dreamcast would not have suffered it's infamous fate if the advertisements for the console actually showed the games, which were (at the time) so far beyond anything else. There's literally never been such a huge jump in graphics since. Even the best looking PSone or N64 game couldn't hold a single candle to what the Dreamcast was bringing to the table.

I imagine if they had advertised Shenmue on the TV, with in-game footage, people would have been totally blown-away. This place would probably be a lot different! We'd be talking about a franchise we all hold dear to our hearts that was finished many years ago, not left un finished for many years.

I digress. I totally agree with you, here. Live-action adverts have no place in computer gaming, unless we're talking adverts for a Tetris-like game or something. Not an FPS like Borderlands 2.

I was just looking at videos for the full game yesterday, and now it seems really weird to me that they used the sequences that they did in the demo. The videos I was watching were much, much cooler in the way they were set up.

Maybe the bits you speak of are the only good bits? Just playing devil's advocate, here!
by Martin
Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:29 pm
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

As some of you know, I have been playing GoldenEye 007: Reloaded on PS3. I'm now about halfway through the campaign (decent size game!). I'll just get it over with now; it's not earth-shatteringly revolutionary like the N64 classic is. It's an all-round solid shooter, with great poroduction-values, and the shooting feels great. There's a sense of 'fun' in the shooting that I'll get into. In this game, it's really fun to gun people down!

Now, I've been playing on 007 Classic difficulty, which emulates the N64 original settings of no health-regeneration and sparodic, hidden body armour. There might be two, maybe three in each level. All added objectives. I wanted the give the game the best chance I could give it. No regenerating health on it's own is quite a big difference, in addition to the hardest difficulty (AI are crack shots).

On a few levels, I was too careless in the early stages, and laboured on through the rest of the level with a spec of health, living off my body armour. Having to be extremely stealthy, eliminating cameras, shooting guards silently in the head. Just about scraping past the finish line alive. Had I been as careful in the early stages, the home stretch would have been way easier.

I digress. The point is, that reminded me of the N64 game. It's a good feeling to have eked your way through a level on three bar because of a careless mistake early on. That tension, then sense of relief as you complete that level. The AI on 007 Classic will kick your ass if you're not careful, as well.

What doesn't remind me of the N64 classic are the levels, and the mechanics. It's not all bad news, either. Gone are the N64 GoldenEye controls, in come COD copy-pasta mechanics. Sounds grim, I know, but it's actually not. Although it controls the same, I've actually heard it doesn't run on any COD engine/variant at all, but a proprietary one from Eurocom. Easy mistake. Controls the same, runs at 60fps.

It's not actually the same as COD to play , though. All those skills will be useful (007 even as the 'snap-on aim' from going out of and into RDS). The game itself is slower, though. Not much, but it's palpable. The shooting feels oddly different from COD. Again, not bad. Different. I have to say, this game has some of the most fun shooting in-game! People falling over railings all the time, destructible environments (cover gets worn down). It's a blast.

The other difference is levels. They're not completely linear lines filled with cutscene markers like COD is, but we're not really talking the playground-esque trappings of the N64 classic, either. There, you were given (a sometimes huge) area, told to complete x amount of objectives, and sometimes one or two no-nos ('Minimise scientist casualties' etc). It was up to you what route you took through the level and what order you did everything in.

Here, it's more mini, interconnected areas. You might start on the top floor of an office complex. You might head for the objective (waypoint marker.. joy), or you might explore an often surprisingly large amount of optional rooms, etc. These searches often yield Janus symbols (shoot them for some reason), weapon crates, and if you're lucky.. blessed body armour.

There's usually some bullshit thing that happens when you go from one major area to the next which makes it impossible for you to go to the previous area of the same level. So you better make sure you search everything your side of the waypoint marker if you want to complete all those objectives! You might lose one to a self-locking door. Cunt. Then there's the radar, which shows you where all the bad guys are.

That's probably all the bad things. The area thing is just a result of how games are more cinematic, now. The radar isn't bad, either, I guess. It promotes stealthy gameplay. This game actually reminds me of Black on PS2, believe it or not! Same general sense of 'awesome' and similar structuring of levels. As I said before, the shooting is very fun!

This game rewards you for being a good marksman more than most. Now, a quick kill with a silenced weapon doesn't alert anyone to your presence, unless they were in close proximity to the recently-deceased. Headshots are a one-hit kill even on 007 Classic difficulty. The controls are smooth, and shooting the guns feels great.

The best part about the shooting is the fucking Bond audio cues that the game rewards you with for being badass! A headshot gives the player a gratifying 'crack' sound. A headshot from your silenced PP9 gives that same sound, and an addition Bond music cue. Two guys near talking to each other. You headshot one in said fashion, get said audio treat, you quickly (and silently) kill the other one quick enough before he alerts anyone, you get another badass bit of music!

In other words, it feels great to be Bond in this game, even if it doesn't feel like the N64 game it has stolen the identity of. The game lets you know that you're living up to the Bond persona when you pull off nice shots. It's not things the game is telling you to do, either. Eurocom build good shooters. In fact, this isn't even their first Bond FPS. Their first was on the N64! Anyway, that I compare it to Black isn't an insult. Black was a totally badass game.

So if you liked Black, wouldn't mind a very similar thing with current-gen graphics and James Bond accoutrements.. get this game! Even if not, consider it if you fancy shooting some stuff. It's like playing COD, bit a little slower with slightly 'heavier' guns. The enemies often die in comedy ways, and cheesy movie set-pieces, explosions everywhere at times, etc. All with Bond characters, music and stuff.

It's pretty awesome. Just don't expect it to be the N64 game. If you imagined a Black 2, canned and reskinned as Bond.. you wouldn't be far off!

Edit: The other bad thing is the load times. They're not horrendous , but they aren't nice and snappy. In COD when you die, you're generally back in the saddle in moments. In this, it might have to load for ten or fitteen seconds. A problem if you're stuck on one bit.
by Martin
Sun Sep 30, 2012 8:53 pm
 
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Re: This Gen is in the twilight so it's time to reflect

For me, the 'next-generation' begins with the PS4 and Durango, and the current one will only then start coming to an end. The Wii U is to the PS3 what the Wii was to the PS2 - slightly better graphics, new controls. The new generation does not begin with the Wii U. It doesn't even really begin with the PS4/Durango. It begins when consumers show more interest in the new stuff than the old stuff, and stop buying the old stuff.

I don't know anyone chomping at the bit to get a Wii U, nor to upgrade from their current consoles at all, for that matter. I imagine that for the next two years, it'll be Wii U, PS3 and 360 battling it out with mainly very similar games.

Let's have this topic when it really is time.
by Martin
Mon Oct 01, 2012 9:29 am
 
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Re: This Gen is in the twilight so it's time to reflect

I distinctly-remember being blown away by the 360 when it came out. I also distinctly-remember feeling that the Wii's graphics were those of old console from the previous gen. I feel the same towards Wii U. Mildly more capable than what we've had for years, different controller.

When the latest GTA/Call of Duty/Big Name Franchise of Your Choosing fails to appear on PS3/360, we can say that this generation is ending. Let's have this topic in a couple years, when all the cards are on the table. Next Christmas we'll still be getting huge AAA games for our PS3s and 360s, for fuck sake!
by Martin
Wed Oct 03, 2012 5:25 pm
 
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Re: This Gen is in the twilight so it's time to reflect

I don't think COD has seen a release on PS2 in some years. The myriad EA Sports offerings don't really count. They put those games on everything! Everything except the Dreamcast.

The point, as you well know, is that this generation is not over and the arrival of the Wii U doesn't change that. When the others arrive and make the 'U look like last-gen stuff (and all the PC games stop using PS3/360 as lowest common denominators).. that's the end of this gen, and it'll be a couple years yet.
by Martin
Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:15 pm
 
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Re: Biohazard

Here's one to ponder - RE5 vs RE6. I've only played the demo of RE6, but didn't like any of it. I love RE5.. in two player.

Anyone played both? What's the better game?
by Martin
Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:07 pm
 
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Re: This Gen is in the twilight so it's time to reflect

You can bet one if not both launch at the end of next year.

I bet neither is released by Christmas 2013. MS have only just gotten below the £200 mark with the 360, and Sony haven't really shifted their price at all since the first PS3 Slim came out. There were some bigger HDDs and some nice bundles available, but that's basically it.

I would guess that the whole idea behind the PS3 Super Slim is that 1) It reignites interest in the product. Sony have always done this, and every time they've had a best-seller. PS3 Super Slim will probably be a top product this Christmas. 2) It's cheaper to produce, so for now they make more money, and in the future there's a margin for aggressive price-reductions.

Just because new systems come out does not make the previous systems dead. DS still had some new IP's and games released this year. Big name ones. Fatal Frame 2 remake and Epic Mickey 2 still on Wii. PS2 many games after PS3. Won't be any different. Dvelopers already have durango kits and had them about a year.

Well, those games came to the Wii are not a sign of anything that you're saying. The Wii is currently Nintendo's most-recent console. So, of course, if you're releasing Nintendo home-platform games any time before the 'U comes out, your game will be on Wii.

As for the dev kits, so what? For all you know they were/are beta kits, and the hardware for Durango was not/is not finalised. Often kits do go out in this state, long before their target platform has yet to even be finished itself. I believe I saw some Dreamcast games well over a year before the console was released in Japan, for example.

To reiterate: This thread, so-named "This Gen is in the twilight so it's time to reflect" is wholly-redundant at this time . The prices are still kind of up there, there's tons of big games still coming out, and Durango/PS4 have yet to even be announced by their respective owners. I imagine they may well like to see how the 'U performs, maybe so they can copy it's controls/improve on them? In addition to being a lot more powerful.

As I said, we can't start calling it quits on this gen just because Nintendo finally decided to release a current-gen console. I totally expect nothing but marginally-nicer looking games on Wii U than on PS3/360. No big deal. Every time I play Wii, I just feel I'm looking at a GameCube game. Which is probably the same feeling I'll get from this new one. Just replace 'Wii' with 'Wii U' and 'GameCube' with 'PS3/360', and voila.

Unreal Engine 3: PS3, 360 and Wii U.

Unreal Engine 4: PS4 and Durango.

;-)

So let's have this thread when it's actually time to have it. You know.. when Call of Duty is no-longer being made for 360/PS3, when the respective online services get removed/replaced/integrated. When magazines like '360 Magazine' put out their last ever issue. Most of all, when PS3 and 360 stock incorporate a tiny part of shop space/website space. That's when the doors are closing.

I looked it up, the last COD game for PS2 was some variant of World at War (by far my favourite of the series!) in 2008. Sounds about reasonable. The PS3 had been out two years by then, the 360 for three. In the end, we'll see. I strongly believe that this is a useless thread as of now. As it's mainly been four solid pages of everyone going "Too soon Ryudo, this gen isn't in its twilight yet", perhaps I'm on to something, eh?
by Martin
Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:58 pm
 
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Re: Blatant paedo is blatant

The BBC News channel just
displayed images of the three
women who claimed that Jimmy
Savile interfered with them
sexually. They showed a current
picture of each of the women
and a picture taken of each of
them from the 1970s.
The caption read: Now, then.
Now, then. Now, then.


:rotflmao:
by Martin
Thu Oct 04, 2012 4:55 pm
 
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Re: What Game/Games Are You Currently Playing?

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded - PS3

Nearly completed this one. Very enjoyable FPS game. It doesn't live up to the original N64 game, but that's OK. I've been playing on 007 Classic difficulty, which tries to emulate the N64 game. In short, no regenerating health, occasional body armour, and guards who could shoot a peanut off your head at 1,000 yards.

I don't know what it's like on the lower difficulties, never will. On 007 Classic, it's a great romp! Sort of quasi open-ended levels. A lot like the levels in Black, in that sense. It's not a straight line littered with cut-scenes like COD, but it's not the totally-open levels of the N64 classic, either.

The feeling of being Bond is awesome, the music is awesome, and the sound design in general is great. Shoot a dude in the head and you get a little Bond audio cue. Kill someone before he can raise the alarm (and without alarming others by killing him), and you get another Bond cue. Awesome sauce! Additionally, it's a nice-looking game, and the controls are good.

There's two things I'm disappointed by. FIrstly; the loading times. They're not 'big', but when constantly dying on a level and reloading checkpoints, they can become a significant annoyance. Given that the game has a 3.5GB install, I would expect better than that. COD doesn't install at all on PS3, but reloading checkpoints is instantaneous.

The other thing I'm disappointed by, regrettably (especially given the N64 heritage), is the multiplayer. Specifically, the online multiplayer is dogged with lag in a way I don't think I've ever seen in a shooter. The framerate itself chugs away down to single digits. I have no idea why this is. The game runs beautifully in single player at 60fps. Multiplayer levels have worse graphics for a start, and then it lags horribly.

I'm gonna put that down to shitty net code. Inexcusable given that the publisher has extremely robust net code in it's repertoire. Even when I barely have any signal at all in COD, the game itself still runs just as smooth as ever. Damn shame, as I did have one good game with no lag, and it was a blast. No cruise missiles coming from nowhere and killing you. No chopper gunners. No UAVs. Just you, your gun, and the enemy.

PROTOTYPE - 360

Was hankering after an open-world game. I'd never played this before, but have played inFamous on PS3. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a whirl since it got OK reviews and it was cheap. Have to say I've enjoyed the game very much. The sense of total devastation in this one is probably better than most of the other open-world/sandbox games I've played over the years.

Mercer's powers are very, very cool. The level of gore is tremendous. You can literally cleave people into bits with your blades. The way he moves about New York is amazing. Running up buildings, flying, falling thousands of meters to leave your own impact crater in the road. The sense of carnage is huge, and at times there's so much action going on, with some very tough enemies.

Prototype does a lot of things right. The graphics are good. I think this might have the largest number of pedestrians of any sandbox game I've ever played. Don't quote me on that, but New York seems densely-populated in this game. The powers are all really cool, as is upgrading them. Grabbing a pedestrian and sprinting up the side of a building with your hand round their neck is really cool.

Which brings me to my favourite feature; the 'consume' power. Basically, you hit B/circle near something, and you pick it up. If it happens to be a human, you can 'consume' them by pressing Y/triangle. This gives you some health, and allows you to assume their identity by pressing left on the D-pad. This 'disguise' is remembered, and you've always got your last human consumption to hand as a disguise.

You can don it and take it off repeatedly, whenever you like. If being chased by the military, you can duck behind cover and don the disguise to throw them off. If they see you do it, then obviously it doesn't work. Military personnel give you perks for consuming them and being disguised as them, too. As a soldier, you can commandeer tanks without having to cause a scene by killing the dude in it, walk into military barracks, and you can call in airstrikes.

In short, I love this one so much because 1) I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. Certainly not done in this way. Adds some nice depth/options to gameplay and missions. There's a few ways you can do things. Mercer is certainly powerful enough to go in and tear everything up, but you can use subterfuge if you like. 2) It reminds me of The Thing.

As for bad stuff.. well. The storyline is dog shit. Which would be OK if it was in a 'shit and I know it' kind of way, but it appears to be taking itself seriously very often. The 'web of intrigue' is a nice idea, but it should have been given a better story. I guess while I did say the graphics are 'good', it's in a 'quantity, not quality' kind of way. Lots of stuff looks kind of bland, but then there's a lot on-screen, and it barely ever slows down. Uh, there's no weather system. It's just sunny days and clear nights. I guess some people might think it's an ugly game?

I like it, anyway.
by Martin
Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:29 am
 
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Re: Hacked Video Game Systems

I'd like to make my SNES region-free at some point. Haven't even looked up how it's done, but I guess you just snap off some tabs inside of it? I'd be afraid of breaking my console, so I might see if the local game store does things like that.

You simply disconnect the region lockout chip on SNES/SFC. This will make a couple of games unplayable, such as Star Ocean and later copies of Super Mario RPG. There may be one or two others, but that's about it. Basically, right at the end of the SNES' life, Nintendo cottoned-on to this practice of disconnecting the region chip, and so a few of the last games actively looked for the absence of the chip.

You would want to do the 50/60Hz switch mod if you wanted to play PAL games. I wouldn't bother, personally. In that era, most PAL games were very slow, with few exceptions. It makes more sense for a PAL gamer, since you might want to be able to play PAL games as you can pick them up for cheap in this region. Yeah it might be slow, but 99p for Mario All-Stars is not to be sniffed at - even if it's 17% slower. For you, you'd literally be going out of your way to get hold of a PAL game. So not worth it for you.

Just grab a retron 3. It plays multi region carts even for Genesis I believe.

That's certainly an option, but those clone consoles are much like PC emulators, except not as good. They don't run the games completely accurately, and often exhibit weird peculiarities with many games. In a lot of cases, these 'peculiarities' (weird graphics, incorrect sound) are bad enough to be called glitches. Some games are ruined.

Personally, I see those devices as a decent addition to a serious collector's range who's always playing those games. For example, I have hundreds of Mega Drive/Genesis and Super NIntendo/Super Famicom cartridges of all regions. A Retron 3 would mean that I don't need two consoles set up, only one. But still, they're not accurate and you're always better off with the genuine article. Plus it's not often that I play an old game, so the Retron would just be gathering dust like my old consoles.

If your advice is for him to get a clone console, I say he may as well just use an emulator, connect it to his TV and be done with it. It'll cost him nothing, and not take up any extra space. He wants to play his cartridges (and apparently get more), and so in my opinion he'd be better off modifying his SNES. It'll cost him nothing to disconnect the region switch.
by Martin
Fri Oct 05, 2012 4:57 pm
 
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Re: Things That Made You Laugh Today

^ :lol:

That is way too funny! I say he's not drunk, but on drugs. My guess would be ketamine.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbWRf_fxPY[/youtube]
by Martin
Sat Oct 06, 2012 4:06 pm
 
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