Whatcha been playing lately?

[Rigel]

The Legend of Zelda... NES... what? I've never played it before...

Good choice, it's one of the best in the series

[Cagliostro]

The Legend of Zelda... NES... what? I've never played it before...

I've been playing it myself on the Gameboy Advance. It's my first go at it too. Someone was doing a game dump and I figured I should exploit it. I never had the original NES, though I did buy a SNES after they really came down in price. I played most of the Zelda game on that (A Link To The Past, I belive it was called), and enjoyed it for a while, but never finished it. Now that I'm playing the original, I'm finding it frustrating, and hard to figure out what to do next. I suspect this is one of those games that is more fun, (a) with a hint book, or (b) during its time when you have lots of time to kill hunting for everything.

[Rigel]

Hint book? Never!

It's from an era when you weren't expected to have hint books... but you WERE expected to sit down with a piece of graph paper as you played so you could map things out

[Spiral Jacobs]

Monkey Island 2 on the iPad. I still suck at this kind of game but the nostalgia is nice.

[Cagliostro]

Hint book? Never!

It's from an era when you weren't expected to have hint books... but you WERE expected to sit down with a piece of graph paper as you played so you could map things out

Which is what I suggested by (b). (a) is currently all I have time for with games.

By the way, is there a way to save the game without dying?

[Orlion]

Hint book? Never!

It's from an era when you weren't expected to have hint books... but you WERE expected to sit down with a piece of graph paper as you played so you could map things out

Which is what I suggested by (b). (a) is currently all I have time for with games.

By the way, is there a way to save the game without dying?

I don't think so (as far as saving is concerned)... to me, the strategy is to get a little stronger before doing anything else, so I killed a bunch of easy things to get the money to buy better shields and so forth... which helped out A LOT! Other than that, I try to locate the temples in the order they were "meant" to be in... this is usually done by seeing how hard the enemies are to get there.

Very different... I think the bosses in the third and fourth temple are the same!

[CovenantJr]

I've been playing Hydro Thunder Hurricane on Xbox Live Arcade, and it's reminded me why I played games in the first place, at a time when I've been beginning to wonder. HTH is just really fun, and I highly recommend it to anyone who fancies a good arcade racer.

Hint book? Never!

It's from an era when you weren't expected to have hint books... but you WERE expected to sit down with a piece of graph paper as you played so you could map things out

Which is what I suggested by (b). (a) is currently all I have time for with games.

By the way, is there a way to save the game without dying?

I think you can 'save and quit'. Or maybe I'm thinking of a different Zelda. It'd be silly to not allow saving.

[Rigel]

Yeah, I think it was something along the lines of pressing "Start" when on the equipment screen... or maybe you had to press certain buttons on the 2nd controller, I don't remember. But it's certainly possible.

[CovenantJr]

If I had my NES handy I'd check. But I don't.

[JazFusion]

If anyone is wondering what a good XBL arcade game is, Super Meat Boy is where it's at. I believe it's from the makers of Castle Crashers?

Anyway, you're a boy, made of meat. Dr. Fetus has stolen Band-aid Girl, your love, from you. You must rescue her by dodging through hundreds of obstacles. Holy addicting Batman!

[Cagliostro]

I'm playing Death Spank and loving it. It seems several of the downloadable games are getting to be more fun and original than the latest releases that care more about the quality of graphics.

[CovenantJr]

Yeah, there's a quite surprising level of quality in the download-only field. The trial version of Deathspank didn't do it for me (it was like a single-player MMORPG) though the sense of humour was appealing. Maybe one day... But there are many other games that have turned out to be gems: Hydro Thunder Hurricane, Costume Quest (I don't have the full game yet, but I will), Fat Princess, Plants vs Zombies...

[Cagliostro]

Out of those, I've only played the trial version of Costume Quest and Fat Princess. I loved Fat Princess much more than the concept suggested I would, and Costume Quest was a good bit of fun what little you played of it, but the combat was very average. Still, I've played games with a good sense of humor and average RPG elements (Okage on the PS2, for instance), and enjoyed the experience overall. It was between Deathspank and Costume Quest for me, although Deathspank won by being on sale for $8.
I thought Deathspank was more of a Diablo clone with a good sense of humor, and without a lot of the tedious backtracking to sell stuff (you put the items you don't want into your item grinder in your inventory and it turns into money - BRILLIANT fix to the worst parts of Diablo 1&2).

[CovenantJr]

I have treated myself to two cheap games:

Blur (X360) - a racing game with realistic cars/tracks but Mario Kart-like weapon use.

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (PS2) - design and run a dinosaur theme park. Could any game possibly sound more fun?

I was tempted by Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (for Mario Kart-esque hijinks) and Uncharted 2 (for Tomb Raider-y action) but settled on the above instead.

I thought Deathspank was more of a Diablo clone with a good sense of humor, and without a lot of the tedious backtracking to sell stuff (you put the items you don't want into your item grinder in your inventory and it turns into money - BRILLIANT fix to the worst parts of Diablo 1&2).

I've never played a Diablo, so I've to take your word for that. I've heard that Sacred 2 is a lot like Diablo and I've considered buying it, but Death Spank is cheaper and funnier.

[Cagliostro]

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (PS2) - design and run a dinosaur theme park. Could any game possibly sound more fun?

A great concept can be killed by bad execution, but I don't know anything about this game. It does sound like fun.

I was tempted by Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (for Mario Kart-esque hijinks) and Uncharted 2 (for Tomb Raider-y action) but settled on the above instead.

Uncharted 2 came free with the system when it was purchased, and while I like Tomb Raider-y action, I usually don't get too excited about them these days. I do have to say that this game is definitely above par, and has several memorable moments littered throughout. The game magazine I read gave it a 10 out of 10, which is the first time I saw such a high score. I don't think I'd go that far, though - maybe a 9 out of 10, particularly because the last chapter became particularly tedious when it should have been ramping up the excitement and fun. But the "Holy crap!" moments are dosed out pretty well, so I would recommend it.

[CovenantJr]

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (PS2) - design and run a dinosaur theme park. Could any game possibly sound more fun?

A great concept can be killed by bad execution, but I don't know anything about this game. It does sound like fun.

Reviews seem good, so hopefully it's a winner. If not, I haven't wasted much money.

Uncharted 2 came free with the system when it was purchased, and while I like Tomb Raider-y action, I usually don't get too excited about them these days. I do have to say that this game is definitely above par, and has several memorable moments littered throughout. The game magazine I read gave it a 10 out of 10, which is the first time I saw such a high score. I don't think I'd go that far, though - maybe a 9 out of 10, particularly because the last chapter became particularly tedious when it should have been ramping up the excitement and fun. But the "Holy crap!" moments are dosed out pretty well, so I would recommend it.

It's good to hear thoughts from someone who's played it and isn't a professional reviewer. Thanks. It's pretty cheap, so that might be my next purchase.

[JazFusion]

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is my addiction of choice.

I love Ezio.

[CovenantJr]

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is my addiction of choice.

I love Ezio.

I've still never played an Assassin's Creed game. Hmm.

[balon!]

Man I loved Assassins Creed, with the excellent movement I really felt free.


Playing Mario Sunshine and Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced right now. LOVing the Mario. I can see where some people wouldn't like it as a follow up to Super Mario 64, but I'm quite enjoying myself.

[JazFusion]

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is my addiction of choice.

I love Ezio.

I've still never played an Assassin's Creed game. Hmm.

The first Assassin's Creed was good, but I still think you should start with the second one. Of course, I am completely biased since the Renaissance and Italy are my favorite time period and country ever.

If you do start with the second one, read up on the Wiki entry for the first one.

I'm going to be typing up a rather long entry on Name/Job/Bye about my love for Assassin's Creed soon.

Plus, in AC 2 all the cities are modeled exactly as how historians speculate they would have looked like. In Firenze you can scale the Il Duomo and Basilica Santa Croce; in Venice you can run across the Grand Canal (though not so grand because it's the 15th century). You're an ally of Lorenzo de Medici. Leonardo Da Vinci helps make inventions for you. Machiavelli is another of your allies, as is Caterina Sforza. The Borgias are your sworn enemies.

So what are you waiting for it? Buy it! It's amazing.