Please don't think that I'm bagging on anyone for loving these games--far from it. The ones I have played I have enjoyed. My point in writing this is that within our community these games are held up as the gold standard, and there is quite a bit of validation in that point. However, I find that while good they have never blown me away. I don't feel bad about it, I just wonder what it is that I'm missing that so many other people see.
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This is like an AA meeting. It feels so good to hear someone else who understands. When I wrote this I figured I would be fending off fanboys with a rake. I still feel like I'm missing something though, many people whose opinions I respect adore these games--and no matter how hard I try I just don't get the hype. They are unquestionably good games, but in my opinion they in no way justify the massive amounts of hyperbole thrown their way.
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@Jason: Regarding #6: It's funny you mention the cheering in the press box, as I was reading the article I was reminded of something similar I did on my first day working media relations for the Atlanta Braves years ago. My boss was showing me around during the game and we stopped at the press box for a while. The right fielder picked up a base hit and threw for home plate. He managed to throw out the runner heading for home for a phenomenal play. As the catcher caught it (being a lifelong Braves fan) I got caught up and said: "YEAH!". The press box turned around and glared at me as one. Lesson learned. As a professional journalist any type of overt enthusiasm for a particular brand undermines your objectivity.
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Well done brother. It's hard to be coherent *and* funny, just ask Adult Swim.
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"PC Gaming, with its constantly escalating system requirements, was something only the most dedicated gaming enthusiasts (read: nerds) could bother spending their time on"
Jesus dude! Don't let them hear you say that! Repeat after me: PC Gaming is the only real form of gaming and anyone who doesn't think so is a lazy developmentally disabled troglodyte.
That should hold them off until you can gather the stakes and garlic.
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I think a lot of the time maturity comes into play when dealing with this type of behavior. When I was younger I had no qualms about savaging someone who mentioned liking something I thought was inferior. It took a good friend explaining what an jerk I was being for me to realize that just because someone has a different opinion it doesn't necessarily make them wrong--especially when it's something subjective like movies, music , or video games.
Maturity also helps in dealing with the criticism, nothing irks someone who tells you your taste is stupid more than ignoring them or laughing it off. Geeks are a funny breed though. Even a couple of the commenters here had to toss in their opinion on Avatar regardless of whether it had anything to do with your central argument. Geeks are by and large a self-conscious breed, and for some of us that self-consciousness manifests itself in feeling our taste and intellect are superior to the point that it is demonstrably provable. Which, any way you cut it, is pretty silly.
Oh, and Mortal Kombat sucks. If you like it you are stupid.
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As far as characters that could be neat gameplay wise I would say: Mr. Fantastic, Archangel, Nightcrawler, Ghost Rider, Silver Surfer, Multiple Man, Dr. Strange, Holocaust, Deathstrike, Legion, The Mandarin, and Typhoid Mary. Elektra and Ms. Marvel for geek-love's sake.
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@Frank: If you go back and look when I made the comment about the PS3's great leap forward it was in reference to graphics, not sales. Nintendo clearly dominates in terms of sales. It's unfair but I just don't classify the Wii in the same category as the PS3 and 360. The Wii is a great console, but I'm not sure if I (again this is my *opinion* Nintendite bomb throwers) classify the Wii as a true next-generation console. It has an innovative control scheme, but under the hood it's basically a Gamecube with a few upgrades. Again, a completely unfair comparison but it's a subjective argument to begin with. You like what you like, and no amount of sales figures and Metacritic scores are going to convince you if you are a fanboy of a particular camp.
One other thing. (Not at you Frank) A good way to figure out if you are losing your mind is if you make statements that use the pronoun "We" referring to yourself and the faceless corporation that manufactures your console. As in "We have X and Y, while you guys have Z!" I assure you "they" don't know you.
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@otherzinc: Aaah, the righteous vitriol I so richly deserve for daring to express an opinion. I'm not really sure about Dan Shoe, a better question would be whether you read this "garbage"? But nonetheless I will attempt to answer your rambling diatribe.
1. I clearly state that the Xbox was more powerful than the PS2 in terms of hardware as it was released later. Any other facets of console gaming are your own affair.
2. As far as PS3 power goes, the PS3 is a more powerful system simply by virtue of being released later. I'm not sure, but I don't think the Air Force has built a Supercomputer out of 1700 Xbox 360 processors.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/PS3-Roadrunner-supercomputer,5688.html
This increased capability is what leads me to believe that the PS3 has more potential to expand in the coming years, much like the original Xbox had more capability to expand than the PS2. However in this instance it is more important as this console generation is going to last longer than previous iterations.
3. As far as Gears of War is concerned, maybe you played a different version than me. The one I played had me going down corridors and through buildings and would occasionally stop the action to launch into a scripted sequence. I'm not sure exactly how that differs from Uncharted 2, you'll have to enlighten me. If you're talking about the one or two short branching pathways per level I'd have to say you're reaching quite a bit.
4. I stated that nothing in the past *year* had dazzled me short of Forza 3. Notice that Halo 3, Fable 2, Mass Effect, Left 4 Dead, Crackdown, and Halo Wars were not released in the last year. ODST just felt like more Halo. Which is fine and good, I enjoyed it. But it didn't accomplish anything groundbreaking in my opinion.
5. I state very clearly that I enjoy both systems immensely. I preferred my 360 for most of the time that I have owned both of the systems. I just feel that Sony may be starting to pull ahead in terms of games and hardware capability. I also state my points very clearly. If you are having a hard time understanding what on earth I'm talking about you might want to go back and actually read it instead of skipping down to the comments to rant.
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@Sandy I would agree with you if the 360 were still getting games a year prior to the PS3, but by and large the old multi-platform exclusives (Bioshock, etc.) are coming out at the same time at this point. I would agree it's a bit early to call, but I'm just getting a feeling that things are starting to shift. Who knows? Maybe Microsoft will kill at E3 this year, and since Sony released most of their big exclusives in the past year I'm not sure how many God of War quality games they have left. But it's fun to postulate.
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You bring up some valid points, but I tend to agree with many of the reviews that I've read. I do tend to agree that the levels are linear. They are pretty much hallways. At least before when you had different levels with paths and such you at least had the option to go left or right. Backtracking after a cut scene may be the same thing in theory, but it just feels really boring. I also have a problem with the combat system. I appreciate that they made it easier for new folks to get the hang of, but I would have at least liked the option to control my other characters directly. Not that it matters since there isn't a pause button (that I know of). The lack of a pause feature means most of the fights I end up staring at the menus at the bottom of the screen for most of the battle furiously switching paradigms and picking attacks. I know they were going for something different, but after *that* much development time I think we were all expecting a game changer. I honestly believe if this didn't have Final Fantasy stamped on the front of it you could knock another 10 points off of the Metacritic aggregate.
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In all seriousness, Red Dead Redemption is easily the best game I've played all year. I was going to do a bit about the ending but I was afraid I would spoil it for people who haven't finished it yet. The rest of these games are actually my favorites so far--I also liked Bioshock 2, Metro 2033, and P.B Winterbottom, but I couldn't think of anything funny to say about them. (Or funny to me, I should say)
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