Your Daily Dose of Gaming.

[esteban]

I totally agree that the pressure to be profitable has perverted many an arcade game's design. But by the same token, can we not say that many console games have been similarly plagued by the need to make them cost-effective in terms of hours played for people paying $50 per game?

Overall, though, I'd say that yes, the console is the better place to find more thoroughly enjoyable challenges and learning curves. It's nice to play something and feel like you can do it. Arcade games have that issue where, besides taking your money, they often leave you feeling down because you think you're just never going to figure out how to beat it.

Of course, then there's the triumph of actually beating it, but how often does that actually happen? Maybe I'm just not hardcore enough.

Ha! Yes, you're correct that console can be corrupted (the need to provide the consumer with "his/her 'money's worth'" and whatnot.

FINAL VERDICT: We are not worthy enough. We are not HARDKAWR. We are not masochistic enough. We are not worthy.

Well, that was the quickest 180 turnaround I've ever performed.

[Ninja Spirit]

Does the "quarter munching" philosophy refer to the AI constantly trapping you into losing lives to the point of frustration?

Now that I think about it, no wonder Neo Geo shooters are so damn hard...

[esteban]

Does the "quarter munching" philosophy refer to the AI constantly trapping you into losing lives to the point of frustration?

Now that I think about it, no wonder Neo Geo shooters are so damn hard...

YES. EXACTLY.

[roflmao]

I picked up Sigma Star Saga for the GBA a couple of days ago and it's been a roller coaster ride of fun and frustration lately.  I like it enough to keep playing, but I'm not too sure it'll last.

It's a pretty novel game mechanic, though.  It's a shmup-RPG hybrid.  Instead of turn-based group battles found in most RPGs, your character jumps into a random spaceship and plays though a random mini shmup level (10-15 seconds long, like most standard RPG battles).  Unfortunately, most ships are absurdly slow and some of the larger ships jump into levels where there is no way to shoot down oncoming enemies because you'll hit the wall before your weapon is in range to hit them.  If this game had a little more thought put into it, it could have been epic.  I'm only a couple of hours into it and I have a feeling I'll put in at least another couple more, but I bet I'll move on before even getting close to finishing it.


Also, I spent a good chunk of this afternoon playing R-Type Final on the PS2.  

I picked it up for a couple of bucks back when my local GameStop was clearing out its PS2 inventory but couldn't get into it back then.  I've been thinking about it lately so I popped it in again and really enjoyed it.  There are so many ships to unlock.  And it does a great job of paying tribute to the original.  Level 3 is a gigantic ship, for example.  If you like R-Type on the Turbo/PCE and have a PS2, I'd definitely recommend hunting this down for under $5.  Having a separate button for rapid fire and for the charged blast is almost worth it alone.

[munchiaz]

Most of my free time has been going to Monster Hunter 3 ultimate on the Wii U. I played tri for a bit, but not long enough to truly  experience a MH game. I'm having a blast with MH 3U, either playing solo, or playing online with friends. It reminds me a lot of demons souls, in the way you fight monsters. Last night, me and a friend took down the first dragon, Rathian. It took about 15- 20 minutes, and it was so much fun. Ended up cutting off his tail as well during the battle. I def recommend it to Wii U owners and 3DS owners.

[VenomMacbeth]

Played some Shinobi III.  Got to level 6 before finally having to use ALL MY DAMN CONTINUES. 

[geise]

Sunset Riders PCB, followed by Zed Blade MVS.

[retroguy]

So yesterday I tried a homebrew NES game called Mario Adventure and it's very impressive. It's a rom hack of SMB 3, but "rom hack" isn't really the right term for it because they redid EVERYTHING. Graphics, levels, powerups, you name it. Because they give you infinite lives and infinite time, the designers felt free to make the game extra challenging. However, unlike Kaizo Mario and other such hacks, here the challenge is actually fair, so while you might fail at a level fifteen times, you'll eventually get it. If you've never heard of this one, I highly recommend checking it out.

[munchiaz]

Been playing alot of Pandora's tower on the Wii. About 17 hours in so far. Pretty cool blend of adventure RPG/dating sim. Story is pretty interesting as well. I do hate the fixed camera angle though

[munchiaz]

Started playing dark souls again a few nights ago. Im rocking a wanderer and i just beat the moonlight butterfly. I remember the first time i fought this thing when i first played the game a few years back. Shit was a pain back then because you are on this tiny bridge that only allows you to move left and right. But this time i fought it and w whooped its ass. I truely think it has to do with me playing on a new TV. o beat the butterfly you hve to dodge its attack at the right moment. The first time i played the game i played on a HD TV that was a bit laggy. This time i played on my ASUS monitor and had no issues dodging

[wavering]

Been playing alot of Pandora's tower on the Wii. About 17 hours in so far. Pretty cool blend of adventure RPG/dating sim. Story is pretty interesting as well. I do hate the fixed camera angle though

That's on my list, after owning a Wii for years I finally got more than Zelda games for it.  About halfway through Arc Rise Fantasia right now.  Pretty good game, but the best feature is the super fast load times so grinding WP is sooo easy when you're in and out of a battle in seconds.

[munchiaz]

Been playing alot of Pandora's tower on the Wii. About 17 hours in so far. Pretty cool blend of adventure RPG/dating sim. Story is pretty interesting as well. I do hate the fixed camera angle though

That's on my list, after owning a Wii for years I finally got more than Zelda games for it.  About halfway through Arc Rise Fantasia right now.  Pretty good game, but the best feature is the super fast load times so grinding WP is sooo easy when you're in and out of a battle in seconds.

Yeah i beat Pandoras tower a few weeks ago. Awesome game, just gotta make sure you get the best ending. Also Arc rise Fantasia is a game i still need to get. i passed it up at a gamestop a few months back and have yet to see it in the wild again

[BlueBMW]

Finally finished Lunar 2 (on PS1) last night.  Excellent RPG... definitely in my top 3 favorite stories.  If any of you goons havent played it (or Lunar 1) yet, please do!  Play Lunar 1 on Sega CD though.

[PunkicCyborg]

Been playing through Castlevania III on my famicom but I'm at the final level against drac......... Haven't even cleared his first form yet!

[geise]

Metamorphic Force (Arcade)

Zero Wing (PC-E CD)