What are you playing?

[Smooth Groove]

1000'd the new Prince of Persia... big ol meh. I guess I would prefer it over the 2008 version but this one is still pretty blah. It's even canon with the Sands of Time trilogy. But since it takes place "between" the first two games they can basically make up whatever they want

Is the platforming at least better than the last game and could you actually die now?  How does the combat compare to Two Thrones?  Two Thrones had the best combat, imo. 

I'm fairly disappointed as I was a big fan of the trilogy from last gen.  But like you said, it's just a side story, so it's not really surprising that everything about it is just meh. 

[demi]

I'd say its better than the 2008 game, yeah. You can actually die, you can rewind time as well when you fall. There can be a lot of enemies on screen too. Usually it was maybe 3 at most in the old games, and just the 1 or 2 in the 2008 game. This one, upwards to 30 can be on the same screen at once. It's pretty wild. But the AI is dumb as shit though, so the combat is just blah.

I want to buy the old trilogy now, though, and give it a replay.

[Bebpo]

Well finished Peace Walker post-game stuff.  The entire game has little relevance to the actual MGS timeline and then in the post-game ending he throws in all the relevance of the game into a 5 min cutscene.

For those not planning on playing Peace Walker I summed up all the actual relevant events to the MGS timeline that occur in the game:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Actual Game Story:
-Big Boss gathers soldiers, establishes a base for them (MSF)
-International crisis [bad guys have a Metal Gear with a nuke, MSF (Big Boss) gets involved and stops them], his sub-commander Miller brings the unfired recovered nuke back to MSF
-During all this Big Boss recruits Otocon's dad Huey who builds Big Boss a Metal Gear, after the ending they install the recovered nuke on it for safe keeping

Post Game True Ending:
-World takes notice of MSF because of their involvement in the international crisis and the fact they have a giant robot with a nuke now, Big Boss states this will make enemies of the MSF that will come after them
-Big Boss learns of a secret organization CIPHER likely headed by Major Zero that's out to control the world
-Big Boss realizes MSF will need money to survive so they'll have to be a hired gun and at times be an evil of the world
-Renames MSF to Outer Heaven.

[close]

[Smooth Groove]

Finally finished Mass Effect 2 yesterday.  Game shows that I completed it in 37 1/2 hrs but I spent at least 4 hrs more checking out the different options.  It's all I've been playing the last 2 weeks.  I can't remember the last time I devoted that much attention to one game.  Kudos to Bioware for making a game that overwhelmed my ADHD.  

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Sent in DiRT 2 to Gamefly.  Completed 99% of the DiRT Tour but couldn't find the one missing event I needed.

Either way, I loved the game and was probably the best racing game I've played since Rallisport Challenge 2.  Everything was well done in the game although some of the voice clips would get repetitive if you played it long enough.  The race tracks were varied enough where it felt like Codemasters actually gave a fuck about putting out a quality product.  There were also enough things in the game along the tour progression to where you kept playing.  I live in the boondocks now so playing online isn't an option (slow ass internet) so I just sent it in.

Not really feeling DW Gundam 2.  The game feels floaty, which gets in the way of slaughtering thousands of robot punk bitches, which is the whole point of Musou games.  Everything else though is a dramatic improvement from the original, which I think was a hasty reskinning of Dynasty Warriors 3 (large but empty levels that you can lose yourself in and rack up insane KO counts if you so desire).

Thought about getting a Wii again for SMG2.  Although seeing Nintards gush over it disgusts me, so I'll probably get it and play it on the DL.

[chronovore]

I'd say its better than the 2008 game, yeah. You can actually die, you can rewind time as well when you fall. There can be a lot of enemies on screen too. Usually it was maybe 3 at most in the old games, and just the 1 or 2 in the 2008 game. This one, upwards to 30 can be on the same screen at once. It's pretty wild. But the AI is dumb as shit though, so the combat is just blah.

I want to buy the old trilogy now, though, and give it a replay.

Man, how weird. I like the series overall, so I thought I knew what was what, but I didn't even know there is a new game out for it. I just assumed this was a LTTP posting about the 2008 game, which I only just recently picked up used.

Last night I played a mess of UFC Undisputed 2009, trying to pick up the KO 'cheev before the 2010 version comes out and everyone stops playing 2009. Got up to my 15 TKO/KO wins finally, and I'll be damned if the 'cheev isn't actually for ONLY KOs. :fml

[TripleA]

Now playing Just Cause 2.

[Bebpo]

I feel like I'm cheating in Valkyria when I don't fight most enemies and just sneak around to the enemy base with scouts, kill the 1-2 guys there, take the flag and win the mission.

[iconoclast]

I started up Borderlands today and played up to level 23 with a friend. Really fun game. Though I hope for Borderlands 2 they add armor and accessories to the loot tables.

[demi]

The new Blue Dragon DS is really good. Curious how the online works

[Beezy]

I started up Borderlands today and played up to level 23 with a friend. Really fun game. Though I hope for Borderlands 2 they add armor and accessories to the loot tables.

I started playing Mr. Driller again because of your bitch ass. I was #1 in standard driller on my friend list until I added you. Your score isn't much higher though. It's going down this week.

[Bebpo]

Despite what demi says, Trine is fantastically good.  It's better than most $60 games this gen, I will definitely look out for whatever these guys do next.  The graphics/music/gameplay are so polished and nice.

The only people who will hate this games are people with OCD/Completionists because without a guide it's easy to miss something or even if you see it, sometimes you get 1 chance at a jump 10 mins into a stage to get it and if you miss it you are screwed for a perfect stage clear and have to start it all again.  Thankfully I got over my 100%ing early on in this game and I don't care if I miss experience bottles, I'm just enjoying the game.

Bitter X360-only people probably won't like it either

The new Blue Dragon DS is really good. Curious how the online works

Told ya. 
Online works great but you can only do dungeons you've already beaten or door bosses.  Main use is for door bosses since the harder ones are hell on your own. 

[Jansen]

well now that alan wake is done i need to finish up heavy rain and forgotten sands,

heavy rain i'm having a hard time convincing myself to carry on. TFS on the other hand is pretty decent. it has some issues like input delay during battles and the prince isn't graceful, but so far so good. would recommend it as a rental!

after that it's on to nier (awesome game, haters be damned!) and RDR.

[chronovore]

Last night I played a mess of UFC Undisputed 2009, trying to pick up the KO 'cheev before the 2010 version comes out and everyone stops playing 2009. Got up to my 15 TKO/KO wins finally, and I'll be damned if the 'cheev isn't actually for ONLY KOs. :fml

Need one more KO now, last bitch rage quit and then told me my 37-103-00 record is LOLworthy. I clarified that he is the one that ran away from a fighter with 103 losses.  Was on my way to doing pretty well against a level 70 player, and the postman rang up. I'm going to have to take a little time away from this game, it's like fate arrays itself against me.

[Bebpo]

This chapter 7 giant tank fortress thing in Valkyria is freaking ridiculous.  Will try again tomorrow, fairly frustrated now.


hmmm, reading the faqs and apparently you can SAVE mid-battle and reload when things go badly.  Did not know that.  This should alleviate some of the frustration.  Nothing like an important do or die moment and all your lancers & tanks miss a target that is right in front of their goddamn face.

[naff]

I've just started playing Valkyria Chronicles too  Loving it so far. Just finished that giant tank mission, bet it first time  Only just though. Nearly all my ground troops were killed by the end but.... You'll see what happens.

Playing through Resident Evil 4 Wii too, it's good. First real game I've played on wii and I really didn't like the controls at first but it's great now I'm used to them. Catchin up on old games is good, played some red dead for a few hours the other night (a friends copy), will pick it up later, pretty happy with my backlog at the moment.

[Bebpo]

Yeah, it took me a few tries but finally ended up S-ranking it with no deaths.  The main problem was when Selberia shows up she mows down your party.  But once I saw she couldn't attack your tank I retreated everyone except my 3 leaders and an engineer who I hid in a corner of the map.  Then I just took out the 1 lancer they had, which was the only thing that could hurt my tank and waited it out until the 3rd radiator popped up.  Shot it with my tank to expose the body and then just had Largo rail on it from a safe spot with the engineer at his side refilling his ammo every 3 shots.

Overall probably took me about 3 hours of attempts and figuring things out to get through it, but I think I learned a lot about the game on this map which should be useful for future maps.

[The Sceneman]

I've just started playing Valkyria Chronicles too  Loving it so far. Just finished that giant tank mission, bet it first time  Only just though. Nearly all my ground troops were killed by the end but.... You'll see what happens.

Playing through Resident Evil 4 Wii too, it's good. First real game I've played on wii and I really didn't like the controls at first but it's great now I'm used to them. Catchin up on old games is good, played some red dead for a few hours the other night (a friends copy), will pick it up later, pretty happy with my backlog at the moment.

finally took my advice aye RE4 is so good, its definitely one of my top 5 of all time. Have you met the big cheese yet? 

[naff]

Yeah I met the big cheese, and that dude locked in a cupboard. Games real funny. Not really scary though, although when I met that first zombie with a chainsaw I didn't take him out in time and he just sawed my head clean off which was really hilarious. My gf kept laughing at me as I was trying to stab the farmers frantically thrusting that wii mote

Selvaria pretty much took out all my dudes as I didn't have them positioned in a good place when she arrived with her reinforcements. I only had an engineer, a shocktrooper and a scout left after her second turn came around iirc, I then took out that last radiator and destroyed the tank in a single turn after that. Had me on the edge of my seat, that level really threw you in the deep end. Last time a played an SRPG like this was years ago when Hogs of War came out, this game is actually really similar 

[The Sceneman]

lol glad youre enjoying the game. Just wait, some of the locations later on are awesome and the game just keeps getting funnier.

Leon, how're you holding up?

Bad question Hunnigan!

[chronovore]

Played just enough DJ Hero to mess my wrist up again, but I did manage to squeeze out a 4-star rating on Hard, finally evening out my gamerscore to a multiple of five again. :ocd

Went online for some matches but NO ONE is playing this. The DJ samples are only playing cricket noises. I mean, if anyone was playing it, it would be during Friday or Saturday night, right? Just how badly did this game tank? Did its pathetic sales end up permanently sidelining that Numark "Scratch DJ" game as a side effect?

A Slime Appears, did you play online? Want to boost with a particularly incompetent player?

[tiesto]

Made it to ch 7 in Resonance of Fate, still loving it. The story is actually picking up a bit too. Got to see the infamous cinema too, that was awesome.

[archie4208]

Dragon Age is pretty awesome.  Kinda easy, though.  (I'm playing on hard right now.  Might bump it up to nightmare in the future)

[Jansen]

i think i'm almost done with forgotten sands.

dunno if i should go back to resonance of fate or nier first.

[Bebpo]

Finished Trine.  Such a good game.

The last 2 stages were tough, but the checkpoint system is so good that it never gets frustrating (although in the last level there were no checkpoints ha)

The game had some flaws, but honestly there is no perfect game out there and every game has some degree of flaw.  But what Trine gave me was an incredible experience that was filled with non-stop fun.  The combat was great and worked your twitch gameplay, the jumping worked your platforming skills, and the puzzles and secrets worked your brain.

I'd give it a 10.  Best XBLA/PSN style game and my new favorite 2d/2.5d action platformer that isn't Mario.


The soundtrack was soooo good.  I might go buy it now.

The DLC level was kinda weird though.  "A New Beginning" and it ends with you about to go SOMEWHERE and then........that's it!  Seems like it was supposed to be the start of a DLC expansion or something that never came :X

I like that if you want to go back to old levels for achievement completion, all the stuff you've already found is gone so you can just look for what you missed and it's cool that you keep all your abilities so you can reach areas more easily with your endgame skills/accessories.



I'd never heard of Frozenbyte before this, but now I gotta check out their Shadowgrounds game (I got it in a pack from some steam sale last winter anyways) and see if it's just as good.

[Smooth Groove]

^Bebpo's GOTY for the week of 24 May 2010. 

[Bebpo]

It's not my GoTY

I've only said one game is my GoTY contender in 2010 so far and that's Kingdom Hearts PSP. 

[OptimoPeach]

Playing Link's Awakening because it's been a while since I had some 2D goodness. The best Zelda

I think I might start Shiren the Wanderer too, but I sorta want to finish FF13 before I start playing like 10 things at once.

[chronovore]

Tried to finish a boss in Conan, because I'm pretty sure that if I get Red Ded Rededtion before I finish Conan, I'm never picking Conan up again. Annoying boss is annoying, in a game where almost all the bosses have been annoying. The most fun is fighting a ton of guys, managing Conan's combos and weapon techniques, and generally being a Cimmerian badass. The one-against-many combat is intense and satisfying, but their mechanics don't translate well to the gimicky and glitchy boss fights.

[magus]

Playing Link's Awakening because it's been a while since I had some 2D goodness. The best Zelda

I think I might start Shiren the Wanderer too, but I sorta want to finish FF13 before I start playing like 10 things at once.

wait the wii version or the ds version?
in any case
DO IT!

[OptimoPeach]

The DS one. I was digging through my old PSX stuff the other day and came across Azure Dreams, and it reminded that I hadn't played a fun roguelike in I don't know how long. I have been meaning to check out both Shiren and Izuna, but I remembered you going nuts over Shiren a few months ago so I figured I might as well start there lol.

[magus]

SOMEONE GOT SHIREN OVER IZUNA!
MY JOB HERE IS DONE!
*flies away*

[Raban]

Been playing GTA IV to finish it so I feel prepared to play the expansions. A handful of missions away from the end of IV, and this'll be the first GTA game I've ever played start to finish. I came close to finishing them all, but I gave up about 75% through the story missions on each one. IV is easily my favorite of the bunch, however. With all its faults and lack of features in comparison to San Andreas, at least IV is always a blast to play. I got tired of playing GTA III and its sequels because of how limited the game mechanics are, and while IV's story isn't oscar-winning, I find it to be more captivating than any other in the series.

The scripted chases suck, sometimes the physics will outright betray you, but thankfully on the PC many of the graphical and performance issues that plagued the console versions are completely obliterated, and to top it off my PC can not only run the game better, but the graphics are superior. Can't wait to sink my teeth into LoD and BoGT, to be followed by Red Dead Redemption and my excitement at the chance of GTA V being unveiled at E3 this year.

[brawndolicious]

The scripted chases suck, sometimes the physics will outright betray you, but thankfully on the PC many of the graphical and performance issues that plagued the console versions are completely obliterated.

I don't remember any huge issues but a lot of people didn't like the new driving physics.  The chases were pretty much the only real challenge in the game though, I remember on the first mission you drop off Roman to meet some Albanians and it's one of the few times in the game that you have a rear wheel drive car but you have to wait a minute for him to come out so I was peeling out and my tires blew up after 20 seconds.  Then he runs out and you're getting chased by the Albanians while driving on your rims..

[Raban]

The scripted chases suck, sometimes the physics will outright betray you, but thankfully on the PC many of the graphical and performance issues that plagued the console versions are completely obliterated.

I don't remember any huge issues but a lot of people didn't like the new driving physics.  The chases were pretty much the only real challenge in the game though, I remember on the first mission you drop off Roman to meet some Albanians and it's one of the few times in the game that you have a rear wheel drive car but you have to wait a minute for him to come out so I was peeling out and my tires blew up after 20 seconds.  Then he runs out and you're getting chased by the Albanians while driving on your rims..

It's just that sometimes if you clip an object at a certain angle some vehicles are vaulted as if they weighed 10 pounds. And I don't remember it being an issue in the console version, but the camera wigs out if I try to move it around a corner when I'm in cover.

And yeah, the chases do succeed in bumping up the dismal difficulty of the shootouts (I've never shot an enemy more than once so far, and I've only ever used the glock), but they do it in a cheap, poorly-executed manner. I wish it was more clear who I had to kill from the car and what enemies I have to hang back from so their car doesn't explode or if I just chase them until they crash. Half the missions are extremely ambiguous about their goal on the first run, and the lack of mid mission check-points don't help. Thankfully, the expansions fix that.

[Enl]

Soldner-X2

This ended up being a nice improvement over the original. While the first game had its fair share of problems I still enoyed its less than traditional leveling/scoring system. This one keeps only a few elements of the original (some leveling items, chain meter) but it pretty much reworks everything else. Now it feels somewhat like a traditional Japanese SHMUP.

Improvements:

- The random patterns and cheap hits from the original seem to have been eliminated.
- Bullets can be seen more easily
- Mulitple ships with unique weaponry
- Chain system no longer focuses on switching weapons but collecting rings before the chain meter dries out
- Some nice looking, fast scrolling 3d backdrops (though I do kinda miss the hi-res 2d)
- Bosses have muliple forms
- Lots of unlockables (3 stages, a 3rd ship, challenge modes)

[youtube=560,345]jJ06n20AFbE&hl=en_US&fs=1&[/youtube]

[ferrarimanf355]

Blur is awesome.

Bizarre Creations
demi's taste in racing games

[Raban]

GTAIV? BEAT IT. Time for some Lost and Damned!

[demi]

Finished 1000 Split Second. I think I'm caught up for May, now.

[chronovore]

(snip)
It's just that sometimes if you clip an object at a certain angle some vehicles are vaulted as if they weighed 10 pounds. And I don't remember it being an issue in the console version, but the camera wigs out if I try to move it around a corner when I'm in cover.
(snip)

It's very possible the wonky physics are a function of the PC port, or having greater granularity in its hit collision. Some physics propellorhead will probably step up and explain it better than I'm about to, but: the effects of force applied are not defined just by the velocity with which an item strikes another, but also the area over which it is applied. I worked on one game where projectiles transferred not just damage, but force against the target. Every once in a while the target would just BOING, fly away. We eventually figured out it happened when the projectile struck the edge of two planes of hit detection, or the point defined by the intersection of three planes. The force was exponentially greater in those cases.

I'm recalling GTA IV has a playground toy that produces similar results, but it may be a different cause.

[archie4208]

Beat Mass Effect.  Shitty game with fun moments.

[chronovore]

I can finally call myself "done" with UFC 2009 Undisputed, just as UFC 2010 comes out today.

I got the 15 wins by KO 'cheev tonight, fighting some guy in Australia. The guy's ground game was so much better than mine, it isn't funny. We actually got ranked matched twice; he won the first time by decision, and I was happy that I didn't my Cheick Kongo didn't get completely groundsmeared by his Minotauro.

When he popped up again as my next opponent, I took Mir, whose ground game isn't as sad as Kongo's. It didn't help much.  I couldn't believe how often the guy reversed my moves, considering how laggy the connection was. Anyway, he was on his way to another decision win, so I pulled out the stops, barely manage to escape from ground to standing, and give him mixed high/low kicks. He's throwing BOMBS, and I get rocked... but there's only 15 seconds left, so I keep going with Mir's exceptional kicking, and BANG -- head kick, lights out for Minatauro at 4:49 of Round 3. Most exciting fight I've ever had online.

I'm hanging up my 2009 gloves with 700/1000. The rest of them are online -- I guess if I win 12 more matches, I can get the 50 wins 'cheev, but I'm pretty sure this town is coming like a ghost town.

[OptimoPeach]

I had to consult an FAQ for Link's Awakening because I couldn't figure out how to get the master key in the SECOND DUNGEON What the hell is wrong with me?

I can finally call myself "done" with UFC 2009 Undisputed, just as UFC 2010 comes out today.

Have you played 2010 yet, or just the demo? I know it only just came out officially, but it seems like a bunch of retail places were selling it early. I haven't read much about it so maybe I'm wrong, but it didn't seem like there were many improvements from what I played. I might get it just so I can play as Shaq though lol

[Great Rumbler]

Tomb Raider: Underworld, which is totally awesome.

MySims, which is like The Sims + Animal Crossing.

Atelier Annie, which is...something, I guess. It has alchemy, I know that much.

[magus]

i think i'm the only one here who played atelier annie (heck i think i might be the only one on the internet who played atelier annie!) as i'm a pretty big gust fan and personaly i tought it was veeeeeeeeeeery disappointing
the game is just a huge fetch quest after another with animu character bothering you every once in a while (sometime bothering you with a fetch quest)

[Raban]

Tomb Raider: Underworld, which is totally awesome.

This is still in my backlog.

And I started playing The Lost and Damned this morning, got about 6 or 7 missions in. It's pretty good stuff. There's quite a bit more combat than I'm used to, and anything involving driving is a lot easier because I already enjoyed the motorcycle mechanics in GTAIV, and they have only improved from that game. I have to say though, the extremely homo-erotic bro against bro storyline in this isn't all that interesting to me, but we'll see where it goes.

[Great Rumbler]

i think i'm the only one here who played atelier annie (heck i think i might be the only one on the internet who played atelier annie!) as i'm a pretty big gust fan and personaly i tought it was veeeeeeeeeeery disappointing
the game is just a huge fetch quest after another with animu character bothering you every once in a while (sometime bothering you with a fetch quest)

It's got stats and loots though.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

I think all the Blockbusters in this city are closing down because everytime I see one they're have a going out of business clearance sale.  After I worked out this morning I stopped by one and picked up Infamous and Ninja Gaiden II Sigma (or whatever it's called) for 30 bucks total.  It's so rare to find cheap PS3 games that I was considering buying a lot more but I just couldn't find anything else that caught my interest.

[Shino]

I think all the Blockbusters in this city are closing down because everytime I see one they're have a going out of business clearance sale.  After I worked out this morning I stopped by one and picked up Infamous and Ninja Gaiden II Sigma (or whatever it's called) for 30 bucks total.  It's so rare to find cheap PS3 games that I was considering buying a lot more but I just couldn't find anything else that caught my interest.

That's a damn good deal.
InFamous was one of my favorites last year.


Hitting up 3D Dot Game Heroes right now on PS3.
Also Mario Galaxy 2 on Wii and Half Minute Hero on PSP.

[chronovore]

I think all the Blockbusters in this city are closing down because everytime I see one they're have a going out of business clearance sale.  After I worked out this morning I stopped by one and picked up Infamous and Ninja Gaiden II Sigma (or whatever it's called) for 30 bucks total.  It's so rare to find cheap PS3 games that I was considering buying a lot more but I just couldn't find anything else that caught my interest.

Yeah, I don't fire up my PS3 a whole lot, but I would have jumped on both of those in a heartbeat. I played the Infamous demo the other day, and fell in love. I'ma grab it soon. I guess I'm also pretty interested in Ninja Gaiden series now that I've become somewhat attracted to action games through Conan and Star Wars the Force Unleashed.

(snip)

I can finally call myself "done" with UFC 2009 Undisputed, just as UFC 2010 comes out today.

Have you played 2010 yet, or just the demo? I know it only just came out officially, but it seems like a bunch of retail places were selling it early. I haven't read much about it so maybe I'm wrong, but it didn't seem like there were many improvements from what I played. I might get it just so I can play as Shaq though lol

I've had the opportunity to play quite a bit of the game and, personally, it feels like a lot has changed, but YMMV.

The clinch game has been made consistent with the controls for other grappling (ground), and ground has been fleshed out with new positions, and analog control over posture from any which aren't clinched. 2009's technique+move+strike attacks, where a fighter steps in quickly from "probing" range and plants a HUGE BOMB on the defender, those are nearly entirely removed. This itself makes me really happy, as I've had my head bobbled a few hundred times by those counterintuitively effective strikes during laggy matches. I've also heard people comparing the new swaying system to FNR4, but since UFC's are timing based and can't be held, they feel different to me.

It all comes together to provide a more consistent experience, and between fights the menus are less clunky, so just navigating is no longer a huge PITA. A lot of work has gone into the presentation, across the board.

I've been surprised at how many people are still playing it, though I guess the "Platinum Hits" and games-on-demand release has influenced that. How much of UFC2009 did you end up playing?

[demi]

They fixed Tinker, so now you can 200 this free game. There's even youtubes of all the puzzles so you can lazyass your way through.

... which is what i'm doing

[Bebpo]

Heavy Rain is so cool.  I think you don't really get how neat of a game it is until you talk to someone else who finished it.  I was talking with my brother who finished it after I lent it to him and his game was completely different than the game I played.  He made totally different choices and it's interesting hearing about how all the scenes played out differently.  Really impressive branching story technology in the game.

[chronovore]

They fixed Tinker, so now you can 200 this free game. There's even youtubes of all the puzzles so you can lazyass your way through.

... which is what i'm doing

Was Tinker broken? I started playing it but haven't gone back to it for awhile.

Dunno why they don't offer a 360 version... other than the conceit that it's a draw for people to sign up for Live for Windows or whatever they're branding it as now.

[OptimoPeach]

I've had the opportunity to play quite a bit of the game and, personally, it feels like a lot has changed, but YMMV.

The clinch game has been made consistent with the controls for other grappling (ground), and ground has been fleshed out with new positions, and analog control over posture from any which aren't clinched. 2009's technique+move+strike attacks, where a fighter steps in quickly from "probing" range and plants a HUGE BOMB on the defender, those are nearly entirely removed. This itself makes me really happy, as I've had my head bobbled a few hundred times by those counterintuitively effective strikes during laggy matches. I've also heard people comparing the new swaying system to FNR4, but since UFC's are timing based and can't be held, they feel different to me.

It all comes together to provide a more consistent experience, and between fights the menus are less clunky, so just navigating is no longer a huge PITA. A lot of work has gone into the presentation, across the board.

I've been surprised at how many people are still playing it, though I guess the "Platinum Hits" and games-on-demand release has influenced that. How much of UFC2009 did you end up playing?

I guess I'll have to rent it and check it out more. The first one was surprisingly fun, but I was never really crazy about it -- or at least not enough so that I'm DYING to get 2010 at full price.

To be honest though, I didn't play much of 2009 online, so maybe that is a big part of the thrill. I probably sunk 15-20 hours into it between single player and matches with friends

[ManaByte]

Taking a break from RDR to play through Batman GOTY on the 360. Played most of it on the PC, so it's going quick.

[brawndolicious]

The collectibles were actually pretty fun in Batman.  Challenge room achievements were just annoying though.

[magus]

i've put quite a big amounts of hours on monster hunter 3 (still less than it took me to defeat baal in disgaea tough ) and i simply can't stop playing it... there is a part of me that want to play the older monster hunters so it can simply punch in the face something different for once and another that doesn't like playing it on a small screen,without online and with what seems a crappy UI forced by hour longs tutorials

[Raban]

Beat Lost and Damned. Here's my rundown:

+ The mission checkpoints were a much-needed addition. I only had to re-do two missions, but the checkpoints helped shorten the length significantly, and they're exactly where you expect them to be.
+ The handling on both cars and bikes have been much improved. Strangely when I ran into some things head-on whilst riding a bike I wouldn't fly off. Helpful, but it clashes with the realism that R* is trying to capture with this game
+ I'm not sure if this is factual, but the facial expressions during cinematics looked a lot better in LoD, a lot more subtle, natural movement

- Himuro put it best when we were talking about GTA IV and said that the layout of the city isn't fun to drive. Sure it's a pretty accurate reimagining of NYC, but it's a really boring, complex map that I've never once been happy to drive on. What's worse, in LoD, cabs are kind of phased out, so you find yourself driving everywhere.
- For those of you who haven't played this, LoD is filled with tons and tons of missions of nothing but just killing a fuck-ton of people. I had to suffer a lot of close calls, but don't go repeating my mistake. Go into every mission loaded with armor and weapons. Even the most innocent-sounding missions usually turn into a clusterfuck of gunfighting at the drop of a coin.

Admittedly, I didn't finish all of GTA IV or LoD, opting to run through the story as quickly as possible. After completing BoGT, I'll go back and try and score 100% on all of these. LoD seems to have a lot of side-missions and I unfortunately can't speak on them since I didn't even touch that stuff.

At any rate, onwards to The Ballad of Gay Tony.

[Raban]

Does anybody else want to see a female protagonist in the next GTA game? We've already played like every race, let me play a woman, plz.

[brawndolicious]

A woman wouldn't really work as a criminal in a game that's about giving you the freedom to be a sociopath and shoot at random shit in a "living" world.