Time to buy an XBOX360?

[Haly]

Sounds really promising :D

[leowyatt]

I loved the bit about buying the pub and making the drinks free ;D

[Haly]

Yeah, nice touch :D Really looking forward to this now :)

[Haly]

Daz/Leo: I'm about any night this week except Thursday if you two want any Halo 3 co-op :)

[Wossi]

I thought I had cancelled The Force Unleashed, but apparently it's being prepared for despatch. *shrugs* oh well, nevermind.

[Daz]

http://kotaku.com/5051018/new-saints-row-2-trailer-reveals-voiceover-talent

Saints Row voice actors. Some of those clips are pretty funny man :D

[leowyatt]

Only thing about Saints Row 2 I was rather :/ was using Tera Patrick to advertise it

[Creature]

Viva Pinata, Blue Dragon, Championship Manger 07, Rouge Squadron 2 and Mario Golf (both GC) for £25. Bargin :D

[Daz]

Need to go back and hit the last couple of Viva Pinata achievements. Loved that game, really caught me by surprise.

[Haly]

Viva Pinata's great :) Need to go back to it sometime. Blue Dragon's the same, looks good but a big timesink.
I picked up Champ Manager really cheap, but not played it yet as I'm a bit unsure due to some dodgy reviews.

5 for £25 at Blockbuster by chance?

[Creature]

Indeed at Blockbuster.

[Haly]

I know my offers far too well ;D
Good deals there if you look carefully :)

[petemc]

SWFU, oh how I wish that was a Star Trek game, is £30 in Asda from midnight. Sorta tempting. If I don't look at my bank balance I can afford it. I probably should check though.

[Wossi]

Well the force unleashed turned up today and I have to say, been really enjoying it. Very few quick time events, mainly for certain parts of boss fights and certain enemys, though very few. Tis great fun throwing people around. Managed to pick up 8 achievements in a couple of hours, could have got more but wasn't paying too much attention.

[Daz]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/245245/microsoft-xbox-360-messenger-kit-8-/

Messenger kit for £9 instore at PC world if you can find it :)

[leowyatt]

Bugger, no where in stock :( they've all have been reserved.

[Haly]

Very nice price there :D Really useful thing to have.
None round here otherwise I'd have picked you one up Leo, as we're off to Cardiff for the day but everywhere between here and there is sold out :(

[leowyatt]

never mind Jen thanks for trying :)

Oh and apologies about GH :o it shall be done asap :D

[leowyatt]

never mind Jen thanks for trying :)

Oh and apologies about GH :o it shall be done asap :D

[Haly]

Np :D

[Daz]

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/09/19/portal-xbla-achievements-offer-more-original-content-than-actual/

XBLA Portal achievements, looks like a decent list (Tests Like Chicken). Love that picture!

[Haly]

Ooh didn't realise it was coming to the arcade, nice :D

[Haly]

Fable 2 achievements :D
http://www.360sync.com/2008/09/19/fable-2-achievements

Can't wait now \o/

[Davey_Pitch]

The Fable 2 achievements look excellent, can't wait for it now :)

[Haly]

It really is a good imaginative list :) Nice mix of easy low point ones and more storyline based large point ones.

Saw Too Human in Game today for £19.99, slightly tempting. Might pick it up if I get any birthday money if it's still that price in a few weeks. Not my sort of game for full price but looks worth £20.

[leowyatt]

Well I can honestly warn you all to stay away from me when I start Fable 2 as I will have the most enormous debt you can imagine :( I'm currently 95k in debt after playing the spinners ALOT and my luck doesn't seem to be improving. I was at one stage around 60k in the black but all that disappeared in the blink of an eye.

EDIT: now I'm getting the jackpot sequences but all I seem to get is the 2-3k prizes not the 12k ones :(

[Daz]

Dont merge your characters dude, it wont do it automatically from what I've read :)

[leowyatt]

cheers matey, that is good to know :D I have managed to automate the button mashing so don't get RSI before the game comes out ;D

[Haly]

Oooh I might get the pub games then, didn't realise it didn't automatically merge :D

[Daz]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=211976

Theres the explanation :)

[Haly]

Cool thanks :) Not sure how I managed to miss that originally but glad I've seen it now :D

[leowyatt]

Thanks for the link Daz :)

Just checked on my progress and I'm 105K in debt but have between 75-80k in the bank at the moment. Going to leave it running over night and hopefully I'll wake up to having lots and lots of dosh ;D

[leowyatt]

Success!!

I'm now 118k in the black :cool: that is after 9200+ spins mind ;D

[Haly]

;D Congrats :D

[Haly]

It's total self promotion but I know at least Daz was interested in it :p
Infinite Undiscovery review: http://www.play.tm/story/21426

[leowyatt]

Hmm last nigth was quite a disaster :( I'm now 80k in the red again, perhaps I should have just quit while I was ahead ;D I'll have another crack tonight and see how it goes.

[Daz]

http://live.xbox.com/en-GB/profile/Achievements/ViewAchievementDetails.aspx?tid=%09]%3a%15%18*iAr

I think someone err'd a bit... the extra 250 points added today to Halo 3 has become the extra 750 seen at Pax - basically confirming the Mythic map pack and becoming the highest achievement scoring game on the box... blimeh! The 'Vidmaster Challenges' dont add GS (bar 1) but do do something, apparently.

Thank god those achievement aren't only ranked though - Overkill was such a mother I'd have gone bananas trying to get Killtacular!

[Haly]

That's a lot :shocked:
That's one game I won't be 100%ing!

So when are we three doing legendary then?:D Want to see if it is easier with 3.

[leowyatt]

I'm game for legendary but I do warn you I will die alot ;D

[Haly]

I do that too :D
Poor Daz ;D

[leowyatt]

Oh and I will probably end up throwing random grenades because I'll get confused with the buttons so keep an eye out :o

[Daz]

I have the day off today, so whenever :D

[Haly]

Probably whenever Leo's available then :D

[NokkonWud]

What about me. Remember me.
We discussed this last night ;).

[Daz]

You got Halo Nokkon? Very welcome as the fourth man if so :)

[leowyatt]

What about me. Remember me.

Sorry mate your window closed :p

[NokkonWud]

You got Halo Nokkon? Very welcome as the fourth man if so :)

I have far too many games matey, but I do have most of them, especially those with pesky online achievements :p.

[NokkonWud]

Sorry mate your window closed :p

Aww. Okay :(.
If anyone else needs any help, give me a shout. I'm back on the net now :D

[leowyatt]

[QUOTE=NokkonWud;235398]Aww. Okay :(./QUOTE]

I'm joking you gonk! ;D as Daz said the more the merrier.

[NokkonWud]

I thought you were the 4th?

[leowyatt]

I thought you were the 4th?

nah, Daz, Jen and Me, makes 3 :D

[Daz]

Are we all around tonight?

We're all probably in different places in the campaign so it might pay to just start again if we're gonna finish it together. Me and Jen are/were about half way through on Legendary,

[leowyatt]

What time you thinking Daz?

[Daz]

Usual sort of time, 7/8ish :)

[NokkonWud]

I'm at the Start menu. :D

[leowyatt]

If you want to start without me though as you are all off then go ahead :)

[Haly]

So is everyone about tonight? :D
I am :) And willing \o/ I apologise for forgetting you Nokkon :p

Edit: I'm happy to start back at the beginning, it'll be a good laugh :)

[Daz]

7 then? :)

[Haly]

Sounds good :) Just MSNed Nokkon so he can't forget :D

[leowyatt]

Yeah will be around :D

[Daz]

Invites are out, party is open anyway if you didnt get them :)

[leowyatt]

be along shortly.

[Haly]

Nokkon's got connection problems but is trying hard :D

[NokkonWud]

I'm amazed my connection lasted through that.
In fact, my connection was perfect. If it's like that all the time from now on I'll be a happy chappy. It seems that when it is working it works brilliantly well - but when it's poor it doesn't work at all.

Weird that my laptop disconnected but the 360 continued on without any issues.. the problem has been when it's the other way around.

[leowyatt]

Good game guys it was a great laugh :D looking forward to the rest.

[NokkonWud]

Aye, I enjoyed that, especially this:

"I've got a Warthog, but it's not doing anything"
"That's because you're in the passenger seat" :D

[leowyatt]

Aye, I enjoyed that, especially this:

"I've got a Warthog, but it's not doing anything"
"That's because you're in the passenger seat" :D

:o :o :o

[Daz]

Newb :D

And yeah, with any luck we'll do some more tomorrow, I enjoyed it :)

[Haly]

Aye, I enjoyed that, especially this:

"I've got a Warthog, but it's not doing anything"
"That's because you're in the passenger seat" :D

That was brilliant :D

Definitely up for more tomorrow :D We made quick progress there.

[leowyatt]

Hey I'd never driven a warthog before so didn't know there was a passenger seat :p

well that is my excuse ;D

[Daz]

http://www.bungie.net/stats/PlayerCampaignStatsHalo3.aspx?player=DazWorrall

Various stats about the games last night if anyone's interested.

I had a thought last night - the game intro is actually listed as a level in the selection drop down, and it registers completion, so we should probably watch it next time to make sure it's done :)

I think I remember Nokkon saying he'd be later tonight, and I will be too (work!), so shall we aim for 8? :)

[Haly]

25mins per level is impressive stuff :D
8 is good with me :) Be playing levels I've not played before now :D

[Daz]

Have a look at this too:

U4-Q0nseBW8

Gold skull on the level after next, you have to kill that guy before or early in his jump so he drops it. Remember where he comes from so we can all have our rifles ready in that direction :D

Took me a couple of attempts on my own.

[Haly]

Oooh that looks annoying :D

[Daz]

It aint the worst! In fact the next one is particularly annoying. At least it was on my tod.

[Creature]

They are rather annoying to get, good fun to play with though. The hardest I think is IWHBYD, because it just has a ridiculous way to get it, but it's worth it.

Decided to play the meta game yesterday, and that's hard, kept dying so I wasn't getting that many points :(

[Daz]

I have IWHBYD, only missing Cowbell - I always forget to grab the gravity lift!

For the scoring I play on Normal with Tough Luck, Catch, Fog and Famine - only once did I have to worry about the time multiplier (The Covenant - 2.5k short), every other time I've been able to play through the levels as normal (well, I have to avoid more grenades anyway!) and have got them comfortably. Only missing the last level now.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsCampaignHalo3.aspx?gameid=59709693&player=DazWorrall <- My second Covenant attempt.

[NokkonWud]

How brilliant is all that stat tracking! That's amazing stuff.

[Daz]

It's better for all the multiplayer stuff, plus you get all the screenshot/video clip sharing too. It's very slick thats for sure :)

/Medal pimpage (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Halo3/CareerStats.aspx?player=DazWorrall%20%20%20%20%20&social=False) :D

If it'll let you do it have a look at the heatmaps. They track per user (http://www.bungie.net/stats/halo3/HeatMapStats.aspx?player=DazWorrall&map=320&wep=0&kd=0) and globally (http://www.bungie.net/online/HeatMaps.aspx)

Just dont look at my K/D ratio

[Justsomebloke]

Still banging away at Forza2, I've even started doing my own paint jobs & selling them on Auction, Nice add on to the game. I sold 5 cars the other day for around 2 mill credits. I am a 19 online now so only 1 off from being Pro, Yayyyyyyyyy ;D
I got myself some points & got all the track packs & car packs & got myself a Forza2 theme which is much nicer than the standard 360 one :cool:
I have also sorted out 3 months live & a 1 month voucher so I am online till Jan17th, Sorted.
I am now a Regular on Live I just can't be arsed firing my system up half the time when I can just kick back in my arm chair & use my controller & my flatty :cool:
Bout time I saw some of you BD'ers on Forza2 for some door banging ;)

[leowyatt]

I'm ready to rock at 8 guys :D just send me a text if I'm not online as I might be upstairs messing around with a media machine

[Dee]

Daz has told me to tell you guys you're all ****s and he doesnt want to play tonight.

Not really, he's running late from work so wont be back in time :)

[leowyatt]

Is that a "he won't be back in time but wants to play later??" or a "he won't be back to play at all"???? :p

[Dee]

Pffft, I am not a sodding mind reader ;D

I imagine he will be around at some point, he always neglects me to play with you plebs.

Plebs, is that the word of the day or something? :D

[leowyatt]

Looks like it's the word of the day. You are welcome to come play with us anytime ;)

[Dee]

Oooh yeah, he'll have to download SATC The Movie for me, gives me something to do, and Ive already watched one episode tonight over dinner :D

[Haly]

Bah I ate fast specially too!

[Daz]

Sorry!

Am about now, we all ready? :)

[leowyatt]

certainly can be :)

[Haly]

Can be :) But no idea where Nokkon is :/

[Daz]

Wonder if he's running late from footy.

[Haly]

Just texted him to see :)

[leowyatt]

ready and waiting.

[Haly]

ready and waiting.

:D
Not heard anything back from Nokkon yet though :(

[leowyatt]

shall we give him another 15 minutes or so?

[leowyatt]

Well after utilising a new strategy other than button mashing I've now managed to reduce my Fable 2 debt from 185k in the hole to just 82k in the hole, using the same strategy i think I can turn a profit before the game is released ;D

[NokkonWud]

Sorry about the delay guys, I did run a little late from football, but my mate came around too for around 45minutes and he's not started Halo 3 yet. Then my mate rang me and I was on the phone to him for about 30 minutes (told you, I am a phone whore).

Thankfully I got in on time for the second map. Sadly I won't get the Legendary achievement :p.

[Creature]

Why are RPG's so damn addicting. Playing through Blue Dragon, and I already want to play Eternal Sonata, Lost Odyssey, Infinite Undiscovery and Enchanted Arms. What's wrong with me, I never normal play these kind of games :(

[Haly]

;D
All but Lost Odyssey will be much quicker to complete than Blue Dragon too!
Enchanted Arms is the easiest for points, but also the worst of the lot (although I still liked it). Eternal Sonata and Infinite Undiscovery have had mixed reviews, but Lost Odyssey is regarded as brilliant by all.
I like them all but I would really :D

[NokkonWud]

Enchanted Arms is only easy if you pick the right team before going into battle :p. I never. Really must get that again and polish it off.

[Haly]

It's still easiest for points because all the achievements are story based so you can't miss them except for one right near the end. It's probably the second easiest rpg in that list for difficulty after eternal sonata too. :p Although that one's irritating for points as it needs two playthroughs.

[Daz]

I've still not finished Enchanted Arms because the end boss is so much harder than anything else before it - game ruiningly so imo (not that it was particularly special anyway). It felt I just couldn't finish it without throwing several hours levelling or gambling, and it shouldn't be like that having actually got to the end of the game.

[Creature]

;D
All but Lost Odyssey will be much quicker to complete than Blue Dragon too!
Enchanted Arms is the easiest for points, but also the worst of the lot (although I still liked it). Eternal Sonata and Infinite Undiscovery have had mixed reviews, but Lost Odyssey is regarded as brilliant by all.
I like them all but I would really :DYea, I thought as much. I'm really enjoying Blue Dragon which is a good thing, not normally a big fan of JRPG's, but this one's got me hooked at the moment.

[leowyatt]

are there any jrpgs which aren't turn based?

[Daz]

FF XII springs to mind if you've got a PS2 :)

RPGs with multiple characters more often than not have some sort of turn based gameplay to them as ultimately its the only way to let you have a say in each characters attack. There are some which blur the line pretty well, Eternal Sonata didn't feel turn based at all, though technically it was.

[leowyatt]

ok cool, we do indeed have a PS2 :D

I'd love to do get into rpgs more but don't have the patience for the turn based stuff :o

[NokkonWud]

My favourite RPG system is still probably Parasite Eve on the PSone. If any game should get a remake, it's that. It was stunning on the Playstation, possibly the best looking game ever made for it, chilling music and a very good story too.

[Haly]

Infinite Undiscovery has entirely real time combat, none of it is turn based. Otherwise Eternal Sonata is a good bet too :)

[NokkonWud]

Just talking to Abooie/Steven and he's just completed it this morning (Infinite Undiscovery). He's such an RPG whore.

He's also interested in posting here, so that's cool :).
See... doing my part.

[Haly]

He would :D My problem is I always get really near the end of RPGs then inexplicably stop :D
Have to try to wrap it up and Lost Odyssey before Fable 2 comes out.

[Aboobie]

He would :D My problem is I always get really near the end of RPGs then inexplicably stop :D
Have to try to wrap it up and Lost Odyssey before Fable 2 comes out.

Heh, of course I have! ;D Just polished off the last few achievements; many of which you need to spend a great deal of time in the bonus dungeon for and quite happy with my 899/1000.

It's a good game and I'd recommend it over Eternal Sonata. Once you get used to the combat and the story ramps up it's a good yarn with interesting characters and a healthy pace. The dungeons are great and apart from the bonus dungeon they're pretty good with save points (unlike Lost Odyssey!). The thing that it most has going for it is combat. I loved it and never got bored, even after 40 hours play!

Eternal Sonata isn't a bad game and in truth I liked the story and characters, I just didn't enjoy the combat which I found incredibly repetetive and a bit unforgiving at times. And who ever decided that as you level up and got stronger you should be rewarded with an activity bar (you know A does this attack, B, X and Y does that) that randomly changes between hits needs shooting :shocked:

The other non-turn based jrpg is Phantasy Star Universe which certainly has it's charm but is a bit repetetive and a bit too long imo. I liked the way it was split into chapters, much like how Alone in the Dark does it, but there are a few too many of them for my tastes.

And hello! Thanks for having me :)

[Haly]

Forgot about Phantasy Star Universe! I quite liked it but it does get repetitive which is a pity.
I find the combat in Infinite Undiscovery a little tedious after a while but I do prefer turn-based combat (except Eternal Sonata, I just really liked that, reminded me of Star Ocean 2 on the PS1 which I adored).
Got a review up for Infinite Undiscovery you can disagree with :D http://www.play.tm/story/21426 Although I mostly agree with you except for the combat.

[Aboobie]

Forgot about Phantasy Star Universe! I quite liked it but it does get repetitive which is a pity.
I find the combat in Infinite Undiscovery a little tedious after a while but I do prefer turn-based combat (except Eternal Sonata, I just really liked that, reminded me of Star Ocean 2 on the PS1 which I adored).
Got a review up for Infinite Undiscovery you can disagree with :D http://www.play.tm/story/21426 Although I mostly agree with you except for the combat.


Good review and pretty much where I stand; If anything I'd have given it a few marks less but 7/10 is spot on.


I too prefer turn based combat as I like the strategy and slower pace but I'm also tiring of random encounters especially in maze like dungeons as I like exporing and never want to miss anything. I loved Lost Odyssey but a couple of dungeons really frustrated me and as getting into and out of combat became quite time comsuming I don't look back on it as fondly as say Blue Dragon.

I'm not sure how far you got into it Haly but combat does become a little less button mashy as you level up as you start to rely more on combos and battle skills. Now my guys are level 120 I almost rely on one called Grinn Valesti which can do 10's of 1000's of damage to multiple enemies a hit!

[Haly]

I absolutely hate giving games marks out of 100! I just sit there blankly after reading the review thinking 'just read the review, don't look at the mark' ;D But I don't get a choice unfortunately, but when I post them on my blog, I take off the score as I never like doing it.

I'll be glad to see more combos being used :) I got a fair way through it iirc, not touched it since the review as I blitzed through a lot of it to do the review. I might start again actually so I can pick up the many optional achievements that I missed the first time.

Need to play Blue Dragon too, it's the only RPG on the 360 I've hardly touched despite owning for a year now :D If nothing else, it'll help my comparisons :)

[Aboobie]

I absolutely hate giving games marks out of 100! I just sit there blankly after reading the review thinking 'just read the review, don't look at the mark' ;D But I don't get a choice unfortunately, but when I post them on my blog, I take off the score as I never like doing it.

I'll be glad to see more combos being used :) I got a fair way through it iirc, not touched it since the review as I blitzed through a lot of it to do the review. I might start again actually so I can pick up the many optional achievements that I missed the first time.

Need to play Blue Dragon too, it's the only RPG on the 360 I've hardly touched despite owning for a year now :D If nothing else, it'll help my comparisons :)

I loved everything about Blue Dragon (well almost everything :shocked: I didn't like many of the skill based situational achievements ~ they were too hard!) and I demand you play it! Ok it's quite easy and quite cutesy but some times this is just what you want :)

Now I've finished it though I need something new to play; for some reason I'd convinced myself Fallout 3 was out in 10 days and I'd wait but I got it very wrong.

Nokkonwud's pretty much convinced me to get Frontlines Fuel of War though I have a real hankering to pick up Soul Calibur IV or Burnout: Paradise for some reason. After Too Human and IU I'm going to leave Kingdom Under Fire well alone.

Then there's Mercs 2 or Bad Company, or even Comdemned 2 or Army of Two. And I could always wait until tomorrow and pick up Brothes in Arms HH!

[Creature]

I loved everything about Blue Dragon (well almost everything :shocked: I didn't like many of the skill based situational achievements ~ they were too hard!) and I demand you play it! Ok it's quite easy and quite cutesy but some times this is just what you want :)Agreed, i'm not used to playing a game for 8 hours without doing the same thing again, let alone the 100 or so i'll probably put into this.

[Haly]

Oooh I could do with an easy RPG, fancy something unchallenging ;D Left Lost Odyssey for the time being, not entirely sure why, just have :/ No doubt I'll return to it soon enough.

I'm tempted by Mercs 2, birthday coming up soon so might go for it then. It does look more like a rental title though......bleh can't decide! Fable 2 needs to hurry up :p

Need to finish Condemned 1 too.......but it scares me ;D

[Aboobie]

Oooh I could do with an easy RPG, fancy something unchallenging ;D Left Lost Odyssey for the time being, not entirely sure why, just have :/ No doubt I'll return to it soon enough.

I'm tempted by Mercs 2, birthday coming up soon so might go for it then. It does look more like a rental title though......bleh can't decide! Fable 2 needs to hurry up :p

Need to finish Condemned 1 too.......but it scares me ;D

;D I could only play Condemned in small bursts as it scared the * out of me too. Took me weeks to finish it!

I'm not sure why I've picked this over all the others but I've just ordered Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway which should come tomorrow. Problem solved :)

[leowyatt]

Haha Jen I remember you'd only playing Condemned when you were at ours when one of us were in the room ;D

[Haly]

Haha Jen I remember you'd only playing Condemned when you were at ours when one of us were in the room ;D
:o The mannequins! Eeeeeeeeek.
I need to find someone to sit in the same room as me now :/ I don't think the cat counts :(


I'm in theory not buying any new games till after my birthday in 2 weeks, she says just as she's off out to go look in Blockbuster :confused:

[NokkonWud]

Steven, stay away from Army of Two and Condemned 2 as purchases, they are definitely rental titles. The first is too short to warrant buying, the latter, for me, wasn't as good as the first.

Bad Company is the cream of the crop of the new games that I've played, it's excellent. Frontlines too is a bit of a sleeper hit, I mentioned this to Jen a couple of weeks ago and she seemed surprised too (as was I). The game starts off a little slow in the first 3 chapters (of 8), but by chapter 5 you get the impression that the game finally found its identity, and from that point it's an absolute rip-roaring blaster, tense situations, fantastic level design and a score that is up there with my favourite scores of all time, primarily because in the tense sections you can clearly here music that can only be described as Bourne-esque, which as those of who you read my blog know, is my favourite movie trilogy of all time. The end song for the credits is great too and actually compliments the game, where so many others don't. On top of that, it's achievement list is pretty strong too.

For only £10-£15 second hand I can't recommend Frontlines enough. It's not a classic, nor will it be remembered in a couple of years, but for enjoyable shooters I have played many worse. If I had to put it down it would be that graphically, it should be better - the models are great, but the textures are shabby - and in terms of multiplayer, there aren't as many ranked servers as there should be, but loads of player servers, so that's confusing and something you never normally see in the world of Achievement whores.

[Haly]

Blockbuster had new games in the 5 for £25 section......and I had a fair bit of spare money since selling my review games........can you guess the end to this sentence? :D

[Wossi]

Blockbuster had new games in the 5 for £25 section......and I had a fair bit of spare money since selling my review games........can you guess the end to this sentence? :D

You walked away without buying anything?




:p

[Haly]

You walked away without buying anything?




:p

No cookie for you :p
I swear the gene that makes most women buy shoes or clothes, makes me buy games :D

[leowyatt]

you bought 5 games?

[Haly]

you bought 5 games?

You can have a cookie :D

[leowyatt]

You can have a cookie :D

screw the cookie I want the games you bought ;D

[Haly]

screw the cookie I want the games you bought ;D

;D
At this rate I'll have enough to start a rental company ;D You're welcome to borrow any of my games any time though :)

[leowyatt]

thanks :)

Actually I've decided I'll take the cookie as well ;D

[Haly]

Too late, I ate it :p

[leowyatt]

Too late, I ate it :p

:'(

[Aboobie]

Blockbuster had new games in the 5 for £25 section......and I had a fair bit of spare money since selling my review games........can you guess the end to this sentence? :D

Lol, as I was telling Nokkon ealier I don't even own 5 360 games! I buy, play & sell :D

C'mon what did you get?

[Creature]

12 hours played, 6 achievements, and the first disk of Blue Dragon is finished.

[Davey_Pitch]

Bah, stop getting games Jen, how am I ever meant to catch you up if you keep buying more games? :p

[NokkonWud]

Maybe if you had even more School holidays... ;).

[Haly]

Lol, as I was telling Nokkon ealier I don't even own 5 360 games! I buy, play & sell :D

C'mon what did you get?

Bah, stop getting games Jen, how am I ever meant to catch you up if you keep buying more games? :p

Funnily enough I owe you one of them Davey! Although as it's depreciated so much, I need to bung some money your way too :)

I got Crackdown, Dead or Alive 4, Madden 07, NHL2k7 and Stuntman Ignition. Excluding Crackdown (which I used to own anyhow), none are hugely amazing I doubt but for a fiver each, couldn't resist :D I love offers that mean I get games for a fiver as I'll play pretty much anything at that price. Most of my recent purchases have been less than £10. Really can't bring myself to spend much on individual games as they drop in price so fast. Excluding RPGs, I don't tend to like playing full retail price. But stuff like Lost Odyssey and Fable 2, I can live with at full price.

[Aboobie]

12 hours played, 6 achievements, and the first disk of Blue Dragon is finished.

What did you think?

[Creature]

It's a lot better now that i'm more into it, didn't enjoy it at first but it's really grown on me. Just finished the first quest on disk 2.

[Haly]

RPGs are almost always a bit slow to begin with :) Must play Blue Dragon soon, oh crap game overload again ;D

[NokkonWud]

RPGs are almost always a bit slow to begin with :) Must play Blue Dragon soon, oh crap game overload again ;D

And whose to blame for that? :p

[Haly]

And whose to blame for that? :p

Blockbuster :D

[Creature]

Jen, when (if) you do start on Blue Dragon, get the Prima guide, it's a god send. I've got the eGuide but I have no idea how to make it a pdf file, otherwise i'd upload it for you.

[Haly]

I've got it :D Got it the same time as the game for my birthday last year :)
Cheers for the tip though :)

I will definitely be playing it at some point, just need to devote the time for it as RPGs tend to suck me in.

[Davey_Pitch]

Maybe if you had even more School holidays... ;).

I don't get school holidays :p As a technician I get the same 4 weeks off per year as most other people (except I can only take mine during school holidays), which means no extra gaming time for me :)

Funnily enough I owe you one of them Davey! Although as it's depreciated so much, I need to bung some money your way too :)

Oh don't worry about that, I'd forgotten all about it till you mentioned it :)

[leowyatt]

Glad to hear the xbox is working Pheebs :)

[Haly]

Oh don't worry about that, I'd forgotten all about it till you mentioned it :)
You sure? You can have the game anyway once I'm done with it, as I know you love American Football more than me anyhow :)

[Davey_Pitch]

You sure? You can have the game anyway once I'm done with it, as I know you love American Football more than me anyhow :)
Yeah, no problems :)

[NokkonWud]

American Football is ace. Should be more popular here :(.

Just noticed, 2 Fifa games in Daveys last 5 games played... are the tides turning?

[Davey_Pitch]

Just noticed, 2 Fifa games in Daveys last 5 games played... are the tides turning?

Unless PES2009 pulls something out of the bag, then most definitely. PES is still great fun to play, but even on 5 star difficulty I can run through teams with top players, and I've whalloped teams like Man Utd by 7 or 8 goals. On Uefa 2008, you can't run people on anything over rookie difficulty, and you need to pass it around and create space and chances. I'm really starting to enjoy it more as it's more tactical, and dare I say it, more realistic. I can't wait for next week so I can get Fifa 09 and try out the full game, especially Be A Pro: Seasons :)

[NokkonWud]

I must admit, I've read the changes to PES and they do sound promising (but then again, they did for PES6 and PES2008) but people are getting excited about features that Fifa had in, in 08 and features I have no doubts will be inferior in PES, such as the Be a Pro mode.

PES let itself down with its presentation and online system, sadly the presentation looks worse in terms of GUI, but if the online is fixed then there may be hope. I've bought all PES games at launch, sadly I can't afford the new one, but I have no doubts I will get it at some point in the hope that they have made important changes.

It really does need to improve on the graphical side of things though.

Davey, give me a shout on Friday and I'll give you a game on Fifa 09. :).

[Davey_Pitch]

I'll definitely be up for a game, as long as you promise not to beat me too much :p

[NokkonWud]

Hah! Just thought, you don't have the best player in the game (Fifa 08) anymore in Fifa 09. i.e. Andy Johnson!

Problem for you is, I still have Ronaldo and Rooney ;).

[Davey_Pitch]

It's ok, I'll go Barcelona or someone like that to make the sides a bit more even, otherwise you'll walk all over me :p

Saying that, I had my first game of Uefa 2008 online the other day, as England against France in a 20 min game. He kept doing lots of tricks and skills, but wasn't getting anywhere with them, whereas my passing game kept him constantly on the back foot and I should have won by far more than 2-1. Hopefully that'll translate nicely into Fifa 09 :)

[leowyatt]

Reactivated my swapgame membership this morning and STFU has been dispatched already :D woohoooo!!!

[Haly]

STFU? ;D

[leowyatt]

oh dear god :o

[Haly]

Made me laugh so it was worth it :D

[NokkonWud]

Saying that, I had my first game of Uefa 2008 online the other day, as England against France in a 20 min game. He kept doing lots of tricks and skills, but wasn't getting anywhere with them, whereas my passing game kept him constantly on the back foot and I should have won by far more than 2-1. Hopefully that'll translate nicely into Fifa 09 :)

Pretty sure it will. It translates the same was as real football I guess. A kick is quicker than a sprint.

I'm a tricks whore though ;).

[Davey_Pitch]

Reactivated my swapgame membership this morning and STFU has been dispatched already :D woohoooo!!!
Arse, was hoping to get that myself from Lovefilm, but got sent GH: Aerosmith and Bee Movie Game instead :/

[leowyatt]

Arse, was hoping to get that myself from Lovefilm, but got sent GH: Aerosmith and Bee Movie Game instead :/

swapgame ftw :p

[Haly]

Bee Movie is a bit crap :( I thought it'd be good fun but really couldn't be arsed with it even after renting it twice in the end.

[Daz]

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/09/26/ntmsxe.aspx

New from NXE, paying for themes may actually be worth it. That friends list looks pretty cool, I imagine some clever people will come up with some nifty ideas for things like that.

[Haly]

Looks quite interesting to me :)
Do you know if you can switch back to the old dashboard or is that it?

[NokkonWud]

Looks quite interesting to me :)
Do you know if you can switch back to the old dashboard or is that it?

AFAIK it's optional, but for me, the new one looks so much better. The lower resolution dash is annoying, especially when you see how high res everything is on the PS3.

[Haly]

I like having the choice. It's like backwards compatibility, almost never use it, but nice to know it's there in case :D

Be interesting how simple it is for novices/non gamers to get the hang of, whether it's more intuitive or not.

[NokkonWud]

If it's one thing Microsoft are good at...

[Psymonkee]

breaking things? :)

[Haly]

What a coincidence, I meant to encourage you over here and Nokkon beat me to it ;D

[Psymonkee]

He does that :p

Been kinda quiet on MSN with him offline changing ISP. The nice kinda quiet :D

[leowyatt]

bah! post has just been and no game :'(

[Daz]

Dash isnt optional unfortunately, but like nokkon, i quite like it anyway.

Avatars might be optional, they're dodging that question though.

[leowyatt]

do we have a landing date for this yet? To be honest I'm quite excited by it all, yeah I'm used to the old dash but the new one looks fun :)

[Haly]

Can you still have gamerpics as well as avatars? I like the gamerpics :D
Suppose I just liked it when it was really simple, i.e. before the last update when they set up the stupid games library so you have to wait for it to read all your arcade games just to play a demo and vice versa.
Would have been nice if the option had been there to switch back to the old one, a la turning off Aero on Vista for example but no doubt once I see it, it'll be more appealing than just the pictures :)

[Daz]

do we have a landing date for this yet? To be honest I'm quite excited by it all, yeah I'm used to the old dash but the new one looks fun :)
November is likely, it's been seen on a Rock Band advert and reportedly said from MS people behind closed doors :)

And yes Jen, Gamerpics remain. In fact I think I read somewhere you can put them on your avatars t-shirt, which would be cool :)

[Psymonkee]

Awesome! A Chef Brian T-Shirt would be sweet :>

[Davey_Pitch]

I like the look of the new dash. It's still a little bit too Wii-ish for my liking, but it's still a nice change as the dash is looking aged now I think.

I bought Star Wars: Force Unleashed today. Not played it yet, hope to settle down to a good session with it later if my wrist can take it (screwed it up at football yesterday).

[NokkonWud]

Can you still have gamerpics as well as avatars? I like the gamerpics :D
Suppose I just liked it when it was really simple, i.e. before the last update when they set up the stupid games library so you have to wait for it to read all your arcade games just to play a demo and vice versa.
Would have been nice if the option had been there to switch back to the old one, a la turning off Aero on Vista for example but no doubt once I see it, it'll be more appealing than just the pictures :)

Gamerpics will definitely be included - infact, I doubt your gamertag will change at all. They can't change Gamerpics (unless it's making them HD like they have with the themes) because they've charged for them.

[Haly]

I can live with that then :D If they do go on the avatar t-shirts I'll probably change back to my Lila/Ctrl Alt Del one then :D

Let me know what you think of TFU Davey (and Leo as I'm assuming that's what STFU was :D), sort of tempted by it for my birthday.

[NokkonWud]

I'd have understood SWFU, but I guess he's a trekkie at heart... or perhaps purely confrontational.

[leowyatt]

Hahah yes Jen I did mean SWTFU ;D I just missed out the W!

Hopefully it should arrive on Monday as it didn't appear yesterday :'( Will give it a blast and let you know.

EDIT: I also noticed in town yesterday that if you traded in SWTFU against BB:HH you'd get it for £15. That means that you only get around £20 trade-in on a game that's been out a week :shocked: plus they'd then sell it on for £30 at the least!

[Haly]

Yeah trade in prices are really low now :/ I guess it's because games on the whole are much cheaper to buy pre-owned now. Definitely encourages me to ebay them as you still get a decent price for them there.

[leowyatt]

Yeah I can imagine, it's also a reason I've started my game rental system again because I'm only going to buy games I'm going to keep and play for some time.

[Psymonkee]

Ah yes rental....not tried that yet as I have too many unfinished games. And Novembers lineup isn't helping :'(

[Haly]

We've still got Lovefilm for another week or so, not sure if I'll try for another free trial or renew it though. Might not as I'm not playing my game rentals as much lately so we've mainly had DVDs although that is handy too.

[leowyatt]

Ah yes rental....not tried that yet as I have too many unfinished games. And Novembers lineup isn't helping :'(

Well I was originally planning on buying the force unleashed but with fable 2 and gears 2 I decided to rent it instead.

[Aboobie]

I don't know how you guys can keep so many games on the go (looking hard at Haly!).

I treat games like books; especially the story driven games I seem to prefer, I pick one I really want to consume and will play it almost without another game distracting me until I've not only finished it but these taken as many points from it as I'm happy with.

Then I'll sell it :)

I used to hoard games or rent but found I'd end with so many on the shelf I'd never even finish them nevermind explore any optional extras. I never felt satisfied I'd fully played the game.

If I look at my shelf now I've Rock Band, GHIII, Viva Pinata Party Animals, (all I only play with the bairn/mrs now) and BIA:HH and Too Human. UI went for £26 earlier today and the only reason I haven't sold Too Human is I think I'll finish BIA:HH in a week and will fancy another play through (for points) before Fable 2 comes out.

[Haly]

I always hoard! I have about 100 DVDs and a good few bookshelves worth of books.

Lately, buying games has been a bit therapeutic too, had some particularly bad times this year so it's pure retail therapy really but of the £5 variety usually.

[NokkonWud]

Well I was originally planning on buying the force unleashed but with fable 2 and gears 2 I decided to rent it instead.

What about Fallout 3 and FarCry 2? :p

[NokkonWud]

I don't know how you guys can keep so many games on the go (looking hard at Haly!).

I treat games like books; especially the story driven games I seem to prefer, I pick one I really want to consume and will play it almost without another game distracting me until I've not only finished it but these taken as many points from it as I'm happy with.

Wish I did. Not doing this is the reason I never finished Mass Effect or Oblivion and is also the reason I won't finish Fallout3.

[leowyatt]

What about Fallout 3 and FarCry 2? :p

Fallout 3 isn't my cup of tea but FarCry 2 will be rental I think.

[Psymonkee]

Wish I did. Not doing this is the reason I never finished Mass Effect or Oblivion and is also the reason I won't finish Fallout3.

You didn't finish Mass Effect?

OH EM GEE

Seriously. Get it done now instead of faffing around with piano wire :p

Normally I can only keep 2 games active at once (technically 1 now since Rock Band's release :D)

[leowyatt]

You didn't finish Mass Effect?

OH EM GEE

I don't even own it ;D

[Davey_Pitch]

I don't even own it ;D
Fancy taking it back with you Friday night? :)

I currently own far too many games, 5 of which I haven't even played yet (Civ Revolution, Condemned 2, The Darkness, Jericho, Lost Odyssey). I really need to go through them all so I can trade them all in towards all the good games coming out in the next few months.

[leowyatt]

Fancy taking it back with you Friday night? :)


Maybe but I'll have to see, still have GTAIV to play, STFU will arrive tomorrow and there is other stuffs too :shocked: too many games ;D

[NokkonWud]

Fancy taking it back with you Friday night? :)

I currently own far too many games, 5 of which I haven't even played yet (Civ Revolution, Condemned 2, The Darkness, Jericho, Lost Odyssey). I really need to go through them all so I can trade them all in towards all the good games coming out in the next few months.

The Darkness was my 2nd favourite game released last year. My favourite being Bioshock.

Yes, I thought it was better than Call of Duty 4.

[Creature]

I have too many unfinished games.Like what? Rock Band....

[Psymonkee]

That's low :p

Just GG&HT on Guitar to go and lets not talk about RttH drumming :(

[Creature]

Meh, I'm still stuck on (DF)TR on expert. Can't do the rolls in the solo.

[Davey_Pitch]

Just GG&HT on Guitar to go

That's all I've got left on the expert career as well, just can't manage the G-R-Y-R-G x infinity section around 80% in.

[Creature]

Got the Strat?

[Davey_Pitch]

Yup, but don't like it very much, prefer using the X-Plorer.

[Creature]

Ah, i've only really played on the strat, my explorer annoys me as the whammy bar is loose, and being a lefty, it ends up resting on my hand.

[Psymonkee]

I'm also not a fan of the Strat - might grab it back from my sister though just get this bugger knocked on the head.

GH3 Les Paul all the way for me :)

[Creature]

I much prefer the strat as I can hear when my fingers hit the notes, and it makes the HO/PO's a lot easier, as I know whether i'm doing them to early or not. I can use the LP, but I don't like the noisy strum bar, and it feels small now.

[Daz]

http://www.shopto.net/page.php?page=dettagli&codart=XB2HA06&n=Half%20Life%202%3A%20The%20Orange%20Box&p=XBOX%20360

The Orange Box for £15. Bargain if you haven't dipped your toe :)

[Daz]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=248741

Gears 2 (mostly) Campaign preview. Nice!

[NokkonWud]

I've tried to steer clear of everything GoW2 related as I don't want anything spoiling, but the temptation is there.

Everytime I see an article written about it I think back to the one I wrote for Gears of War that got stolen and posted everywhere - I'm sure Haly and Creature know what I'm talking about.

[Psymonkee]

I know what your talking about :o

That was shocking tbh. Some good detective work though :D

[leowyatt]

I know nothing about this Gears article but I'm so pumped about Gears 2 it is going to rock.

EDIT: thank god Cliffy got rid of that stupid hair!

[Haly]

I'll be pre-ordering this I think, keeping some money aside for some November pre-orders and I always wished I'd got the CE version of Gears 1.
Want a co-op partner Leo? :D

[leowyatt]

Sure thing Jen I'll co-op with anyone who needs help. Coming back to it from a big gap with Daz was a right laugh. My favourite part this time round was the floating car ;D sadly I couldn't get the camera in time to film it.

[Daz]

Evil floating car. No good would come of it!

[Psymonkee]

I still could do with finishing normal mode on GoW1. However I traded it in :(

Will deffo grab this (probably on release) and be up for some multiplayer shenanigans :)

[Haly]

Floating car? Wtf? ;D

I still need to finish up insane mode too! Only got RAAM to kill, and one bloody tag to find which probably won't happen anyhow :p

[leowyatt]

Still got mine pre-ordered with gamestation and I get some figurine and a cog tag chain which looks funky.

[Haly]

Still got mine pre-ordered with gamestation and I get some figurine and a cog tag chain which looks funky.

Aww they don't seem to offer that anymore :( Nowhere seems to have a good pre-order deal actually :/

[leowyatt]

I only found out what I got when the fella behind the counter told me what I'd get :o I just pre-ordered SWTFU, Fable 2 and Gears 2 at the same time.

Infact something like this,

http://www.consolemonster.com/images/news/headshotlocust.jpg

[Haly]

Ahh I only looked online, I'll have to see if it's different in store :)

[NokkonWud]

I want that figurine!
Gonna have to look in Forbidden Planet around launch, I'm sure they'll have an amazing selection of GoW stuff.

[Daz]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=248873

Gears 2 may come with redeem codes to use the Gears 1 multiplayer maps. The best way to encourage you to buy new and not pre-owned - by giving you an incentive to. Tis a good idea.

[NokkonWud]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=248873

Gears 2 may come with redeem codes to use the Gears 1 multiplayer maps. The best way to encourage you to buy new and not pre-owned - by giving you an incentive to. Tis a good idea.

Very clever. With the market the way it is, companies need to look into doing stuff like this.

[leowyatt]

Is that a pre-order thingy or available to anyone who buys the game?

[Daz]

Not pre-order, just codes in the box. Of course once they're used, they're gone, so only people who buy new will get them.

[leowyatt]

ah well I'm getting mine new anyway :) get some cog tag necklace thingy with it too ;D

looks like that offer expired Jen :(

[Haly]

Typical :(
Ah well I'll get it pre-ordered anyhow as I'd like it for launch :) Set aside money from various selling of things to cover a pre-order of Fable 2, Gears 2 and Banjo Kazooie :D

[Creature]

That's all I've got left on the expert career as well, just can't manage the G-R-Y-R-G x infinity section around 80% in.Hit that section with the LP earlier, but only just. Involves very quick movement from strumming to tapping.

[Desmo]

Not sure which Score Whore deserves this t-shirt the most....so you can all have it!

http://i33.tinypic.com/2eogp08.jpg

;D

[NokkonWud]

I should be offended, but it's too amusing :p.

[Psymonkee]

I like :D

Infact - I want :D

[Creature]

*hides*

[Davey_Pitch]

I want as well, that's a cool t-shirt ;D

[Haly]

I want too :D

And cool sig Davey :)

[Davey_Pitch]

Ta, found it on another forum and quickly stole it :D

[Psymonkee]

Stealing is the way forward. NG + CAD is pretty much unstoppable :D

[Wossi]

Playing Fifa 09 and loving it. I completely suck at it though :D

[Davey_Pitch]

Jesus Gamestation are a rip off when it comes to trade in prices. I had 8 games to take in to trade at lunchtime - Star Wars: Force Unleashed; Mass Effect Tin Edition; Top Spin 3; PES 2008; Euro 2008; Condemned 2; Bioshock; Smackdown vs Raw 2008 - so I thought I'd take them to Computer Exchange first. They offered me £121 in trade for the lot, which is a very good price, but they don't do new games and it takes at least a month for the new releases to become easy to get. I then took the games to Gamestation, and they offered me £71 for the lot! Rip off merchants! Just traded in Star Wars and Top Spin 3 and got Fifa 09 for £3, and I'll take the rest back to Computer Exchange (the remaining games will get me £68 in trade value), and I'll just wait for stuff like Fable to show up there. I'm not wasting £50 in trade value just to get the games quicker :/

[leowyatt]

That's the reason I now only buy the new games I want or wait for the others to appear cheap :) Trade-in prices are a joke at the moment :(

[Davey_Pitch]

As I said, Computer Exchange do good prices, and Gamestation do a price match on trade ins, but CEX don't provide proof of prices, so I couldn't get them to price match. Just a shame Computer Exchange don't get new games in. I may just have to try to get friendly with the staff there and see if I can get one of them to drop me a heads up when something like Fable 2 comes in 2nd hand.

[leowyatt]

You not buying fable 2 new??

[Haly]

That's ridiculous!
Wish we had a CEX here :( So much better for prices. I hardly ever trade in stuff at Gamestation, I just ebay instead but it'd be nice to have the convenience of CEX.

[Davey_Pitch]

You not buying fable 2 new??
Not now, can't afford it :(

[leowyatt]

Not now, can't afford it :(

bummer :(

Side note if you have a profile on your xbox which has bought arcade games, can all other profiles play that same game?

[Davey_Pitch]

Yes, I believe so. I think when you buy a game you get 2 licenses - 1 for the console, and 1 for the user. If you change hardware or your xbox, your profile can still play the games, but other people can't. If you still have the same console that you bought the game on, I believe any other profile can play it. We can test it later if you like, you can try one of the arcade games I've bought and see if it works on another profile :)

[leowyatt]

Ok was just thinking if my profile was available on your xbox if you could play the pub games ;)

[Daz]

Davey is correct re: the licensing :) And now once a year, you can reset the console licenses to move them to a new console, and if your box red rings, they change the licenses automatically - you just have to re-download the content again and it'll all work :)

[Davey_Pitch]

I couldn't in that respect, as you're the one who bought the Pub Games, and it wasn't bought on my Xbox, so only you could play it on my console, if you were signed in.

However, I can play it anyway, as my bro very kindly gave me a code for it yesterday, as he got a code with his Fable 2 pre-order, but he already had the Pub Games :)

[leowyatt]

Ah ok cool, I should have a spare code too if someone wants it :D just need to find out from gamestation what I'm getting :)

[NokkonWud]

I was talking to Jen about trades the other day. Surely it's about time GAME brought back their 'trade for and get any game for 99p' deal back?

That's such an awesome offer and still the best I've seen at a highstreet retailer. Sadly, they've not run it since 2005. :(.

[Haly]

Ah ok cool, I should have a spare code too if someone wants it :D just need to find out from gamestation what I'm getting :)

If you have got a spare code, could I have it please? :)

[leowyatt]

I'll give gamestation a call tomorrow and see if I can collect it next week for you :D