Yahoo! News – Microsoft eyeing Nintendo: report
Quick post: could this be true? More on it later.
Mashing buttons since 1984
Yahoo! News – Microsoft eyeing Nintendo: report
Quick post: could this be true? More on it later.
I have completed Halo, I’m proud to say. It took me less than two weeks, playing about an hour or two, with a couple longer sessions. I thoroughly enjoyed it, everything looked and sounded great, the vehicles are a blast (I really liked the race to the finish), the fact that only two weapons can be carried is genius. The music was moody, but often triggered at weird times. My biggest gripe, of course, is the level design. I understand that some areas need to be repeated, but not every darn one of them. Some were a pain to navigate, but on the whole it never was overly frustrating. The pace was perfect, maybe a tad too fast.
Overall, I look forward to trying on the harder difficulty levels at some point, but I’m going back to NCAA 2005 for now. I left my team in a lurch and they need their coach.
I give Halo 4.75/5 buttons mashed! I also eagerly waiting its sequel.
I guess I spoke too soon on games I’m looking forward to this coming fall/winter. According to Gamespot (via EvilAvatar) it will ship Jan. 11, 2005.
From what I’ve seen, it looks spectacular. I didn’t play any of the RE games until I tried the RE remake on the GC and it was great, but I didn’t finish it. I’ve been wanting to go and play through the series so I could see how everything fits together and now that RE4 has been delayed, maybe I’ll actually be able to do that.
I, like most people, like to make top ten/five/whatever lists. Top ten movies of all time, top ten fight scenes, whatever. I made a top five Gamecube games of 2003 last year on epinions.com. I was thinking of games (Gamecube in particular) of 2004 and which one’s I’ve enjoyed so far and I’ve only played a couple games released this year. While there are a bunch of games I am looking forward to, I still can’t believe I’ve only played two games released in 2004: Wario Ware Megagames and NCAA 2005.
There are some good ones that are out already that I should play: Zelda Four Swords Adventures, Mega Man Anniversary, Spiderman 2, and Tales of Symphonia. Those are some good titles.
But the upcoming games are looking great. I am particularly looking forward to Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime 2 Echoes, and Pikmin 2. These will be the titles vying the top five of 2004. There’s also a handful of Xbox games I’m looking forward to playing, but that’s another topic.
So I’m two-and-half years late to the party, but I’ve finally assumed the role of Master Chief and taken the responsibility of saving the world, no, the universe, on my shoulders. I’ve played Halo plenty, but mostly multiplayer, so it’s good to see some of what happens and how everything fits together.
Visually, I’m impressed, it still looks good 3 years later. Sound is top notch, control is great, but as many have complained, the levels lack imagination. The computer enemies are compentent. So far so good. Unfortunately it cuts into NCAA 2005 time, but I’m okay with that for now.
I just saw a new one to add to the “User” stats: I used the stiff arm during a run and my RB pushed the defender down and up popped “User Break Tackle!”.
That’s pretty cool stuff. Are there others? I hope so. If you’ve encountered one, let me know!
I am now the proud owner of an Xbox. I made the trade for the clubs, now I have a shiny refurbished Xbox, two S-controllers, Goblin Commander, and 12 free rentals at Hollywood video. I haven’t played much since NCAA 2005 has been sucking up my time but I feel it was a great trade. I think the first game I’ll pick up is ESPN NFL 2K5. Can’t beat the 19.99$ price tage.
I must say, the Gamecube and the Xbox are getting along swimmingly. The Xbox knows he’ll never get to be Zelda or Mario or Samus and he’s alright with that. The Gamecube knows he’ll probably never get online, and he’s okay with that, too.
Okay, after a week of playing NCAA 2005, let me say a couple of things. First, let me answer the burning question: “If I already have NCAA 2004, should I pick up 2005?”
YES! I answer that with a resounding affirmative. While it does has some flaws and drawbacks, it is a solid title with enough new features to make it seem fresh and new. While the graphics and crowd backgrounds are showing their age, there is plenty to enjoy.
First and foremost is the matchup stick. It shows you matchups and shows if players are rattled or not and if they’re playing good or bad. Definitely an excellent change. Now you can see if the five-star, Blue ChipĀ® freshmen stud is pooping his pants with his first visit to the Horseshoe or if he’s got nerves of steel. Since I started a cupcake team to buuld my dynasty with, almost all my players get rattled and play bad. I finally have a freshman DE (4-star) who has a little green in his “play” meter but he’s still rattled every game. I don’t know how well he’ll play once he gets a year under his belt but he holds his own now.
With 2004 on the Gamecube I used to get sick of using Z button + R button to flip plays or the Z-button to switch various menus. Now you flip plays and navigate menus with the C-stick. You can actually flip a play at the line of scrimmage, as well.
Recruiting has changed, now you can scout players before you try and recruit them. My first off season had me with 24 recruiting points, so I wasn’t able to try this feature out yet but there are certain stats you can’t see without scouting them first, like their discipline. Players unhappy with their playing time can transfer to a school (even your own players, so keep everyone happy with PT!) and play after sitting a season. After my first season I had a decent QB (72 OVR, better than my current 52 OVR QB) from West Viriginia transfer to my school, so I am pumped about him starting next year. That feature will either be the sweetest thing or come and bite you in the butt. Even before recruiting starts you have 100 percentage points to allocate to recruiting, training, and discipline. I’ve already had to suspend a couple players a quarter for their misbehavior. I’m not sure what ill effects bad discipline players can have on a team.
In 2004 it would say “User Pick!” if you were controlling a player that intercepted a pass, but now it also say “User Tackle for Loss!” and “User Sack!” when you control a player that does that. Both little details that mean a lot to me.
That’s about all I can think of for now. I’ll add more as I uncover more little details.
Well, it’s late so I don’t have much time to post a lot about the game, it’s definitely improved, little enhancements here and there go a long way, they have definitely integrated the crowd/home field advantage very well and the passing game is definitely tougher.
More info when I get a chance but in the inaugural game, OSU 13 UM 10. Buckeyes dominate again.
I just listened to my messages, Trading Zone has my copy of NCAA 2005! I’ll be heading over there as soon as the buttonWife gets home to pick it up. Picture and preliminary thoughts will be posted soon.
I also am contemplating a trade with a friend: an unused set of my golf clubs for his Xbox (and stuff, maybe 2 controllers, a game, etc). He hasn’t had any issues with his box so I don’t worry too much about that but I wonder if I’m better off selling the clubs and buying my own, new, Xbox. If I get one from Game Crazy (probably a refurb’ed model) I would also get 12 free game rentals, so that’s something I need to think about. Either way, we’d both be getting a great deal, it’s a win-win situation. We’ll be Halo’ing at his house this Friday, that’s when all the details will be ironed out.
Needless to say, I’m pumped! So much gaming goodness going on right now.