Grazza

Ah, all the sexy women from my youth are MILFs now. I don't even know who the contemporary "babes" are! PS - Was that a Bill & Ted reference?

I've never seen that Spaceworld video before and was very grateful to. I love all the whooping and cheering! That's how you excite people!

I love that image! Hilarious and very probably true. Now I can't stop imagining Miyamoto at this year's E3 saying "What, they wanted Zelda?" and then quickly getting one of his artists to draw him that pic of Link without a sword!

Ah, I thought it was a good E3. Is presentation really that important? Surely content is what counts? People viewing it on the internet can download the screenshots and gameplay videos soon afterwards, so it's not like this particular audience will be confused about what they're seeing. Plus, far less people used to watch the webcasts a few years back (2004-2006-ish, if they even existed) and that didn't stop the excitement. The games were enough on their own. Perhaps it's just that this was the fourth E3 showing Wii software. We've pretty much seen everything it can do, haven't we? It's hard to excite people at this stage, even if some of the games looked great. One problem is that Nintendo aren't being clear about MotionPlus. When they revealed it at E3 2008 I was very impressed that they were improving their controller. Now though, have they actually announced anything else that uses it (apart from Wii Fit Plus)? It's sending out the message that they're not sure if it really improves anything. We've had various developers saying their games are better without it - I admire them for their honesty, but I'd hoped it would be a bit more useful than that. If they had shown a lot of new games that needed Motion Plus, and explained why they needed it, that would have made for a better show.

Nice review, darksnowman. I'm still loving it, but you mentioned some of the things I really thought were negative points too. However, I quickly regained my enjoyment, and the cave last night was an absolute blast!

Well, the GameCube version can completely freeze - it did so to me three times whilst I was completing it. I didn't much mind, but it depends on how much patience you have. Still, it does have the rumble feature, so I think I'll keep mine until there's a truly definitive version available.

Brilliant pun. I'd definitely be a Monk, which is odd, as I never use them in RPGs. I'm strong and agile, with good reactions (more like Spider-Man than a tank). At work, I'm always knocking things over and catching them before they hit the floor, prompting many compliments from onlookers! I don't like using weapons or magic. However, I'm a pacifist, so I'd only fight in defence and help my pals out with potions and such. A "Support Monk".

They do, but it's not a particularly intricate link. I preferred these chapters to the last one, as they were more simple and focused. Wasn't too keen on the Torneko chapter though - I stood in the shop for a while wondering when I could leave! The older Dragon Quests certainly have an "innovative" method of storytelling!

Ah, killer kirby, I didn't mean to sadden you! I only meant as a side project, and I was trying to save money with the shared resources idea.

Same here. Dragon Quest VIII was the first one ever released in Europe. It's funny to think that and the remakes of IV and V are still the only ones available here. What I'd love is for a new 3D game engine built for the PS3 and for the entire series to be remade on it! It'd be a big task, but there'd be one big database of textures, models and such, like these DS remakes. Imagine being able to view the interiors up close of all those castles and mansions from the 2D games!

Aw, I was hoping for this December, but I suppose next year is reasonable. I just hope Europe gets it as soon as the US, because I don't want to be tempted to import. Have the Japanese had Dragon Quest VI on DS yet?

I've completed DQ IV.

LOL, thanks for the new nickname, I like that one! A buff is just a stat boost, like "Protego" in Final Fantasy. There are buffs to increase defence, and buffs to lessen fire/ice damage etc. What I like about having only four characters is that you know that, between them, they will be able to do all the spells and moves you need. Oh, by the way, 8 points into "Courage" (you learn Zoom) and 10 points into "Humanity" (Yangus learns Heal) will be very useful at the beginning of the game too.

I think he meant because they were showing Mario, Metroid, Wii Sports etc, they also wanted something new. As for the price cut, well, I've always thought it was too expensive for what it is, but the market decides the price, that's the way it is. I've noticed ASDA reduces its price quite regularly, and I can't imagine sales would surge enough to truly bring its value up to £180 again. What would be nice is an official new SKU, perhaps with Wii Sports + Resort, and what I'd really like to know, personally, is when the supposed cooler, quieter models are out.

Yes, it's a great introduction to the series, although there are a few key differences. In Dragon Quest IV and V (the only others I've played), you have a huge amount of party members to choose from. In DQVIII, there are only enough characters to fill your party, which I prefer. Dragon Quest VIII also has skill trees, so be careful where you put your skill points! Spears and Axes are very important. Also, generally speaking, don't sell your items, especially rare ones, because they come in useful later. Overall, I would say DQVIII has more tactical gameplay. In DQIV and V, you can pretty much plough away at the bosses, with healing when necessary. In DQVIII, the special moves seem much more important, perhaps the buffs too.

Here's a tip for DQV players - keep a Slime and a Healslime in your wagon at all times. The Healslime is great for the "Heal All" function, even if he's not in your 4-man party. The Slime, on the other hand, got me out of a great deal of trouble yesterday. I was in a cave when a Rockbomb went off and KO'd most of my party. I was only left with one of those "robot statutes", but he couldn't cast Evac. Luckily, the cave was wide enough to take my wagon in, and I had a Slime that could cast Evac! Phew!

Funnily enough there was an issue of Fantastic Four that was partly set in "Stockholm, Switzerland". Must be a common mistake!

The only real game breaker for me is if I can't get into the general gameplay (or controls). I'm very patient, but games I just totally gave up on near the beginning include Final Fantasy IV, Kingdom Hearts and The World Ends With You.

I'm still enjoying DQV. [spoiler=]The bit at the end of your childhood is truly heartbreaking! It's some of the most powerful storytelling I've seen in a game, what Pankraz has to do. Does anyone else feel guilty about not letting a monster join your team? I only want one of each type, that's why I turn them away, but I still feel bad! I don't feel there's much grinding in these games, which is great, obviously! Like Hero of Time said, it's more to be able to afford the weapons and armour. Emerald Emblem, you would probably like DQIV as well, and definitely play VIII on the PS2 while it's still available! I just think there are so many subtle things about V that make it better than IV - better dialogue and accents, more focused story etc, as well as better music. Despite using the same "remake" engine as IV, I think V benefits from having been originally designed on the SNES rather than the NES. It feels like I'm playing a great SNES game that was never released in Europe, because, of course, that's what it is! EDIT - I forgot to say the "Talk to Your Party" feature is in V too, which I think is quite an important part of Dragon Quest. I also played the TnT game and won first time!

Yes. It had an enormous amount of sheer power and the games came on CDs, which must have given them an advantage with textures. I can't imagine the DS running Virtua Fighter 2 or Sega Rally as well as the Saturn. There's nothing political about what I say. I just go by instinct. Even back then I could tell that the Saturn's 2D games were generally better and smoother than the 3D ones, but it never seemed as bad as the DS.

I loved the Saturn. Good comparison though - both are 2D consoles with 3D capabilities bolted on - but the Saturn was a lot clearer. All I ask for with graphics is that they're smooth and sharp with decent textures. I honestly don't think that applies to the 3D graphics on the DS.

To me, the DS has the worst 3D graphics I've ever seen (the 2D is great). I honestly don't consider them adequate. Hey, I'm not saying they don't still make good games. I actually think the DS and Wii have the best games, which is unfortunate considering I don't like the machines! It's not the actual length of the wait that bothers me, it's whether Nintendo have made their latest hardware in a way that can benefit Zelda or not. It may have been a long wait between LttP and OoT, but that was due to the popularity of the SNES. Once the N64 had arrived, it really was quite a reasonable and understandable wait for OoT. My position is that the infra-red pointing is alright, but just alright. It works well enough, but it's not as good as having the leap in processing power that the PS3/360 have. I dislike any use of the accelerometers, even in Nintendo's best games. For example, flicking the remote to change visors in Metroid Prime 3 is nothing like as good as using the GameCube's d-pad. Yeah, well, Zelda is pretty much the only big game they haven't done, and they didn't care how the motion control ruined both versions of Twilight Princess. I'm not saying it won't work (I did say "potentially"), only that there is nothing about the machines to benefit them. Yes, the touch controls worked fine on the DS, but they weren't any better than a d-pad for the 2D bits, or an analogue stick for the 3D bits. Zelda: PH is not a great game. The controls work fine, but the fact it's on a machine (at least) one generation back from the GameCube makes it far worse than Wind Waker. Obviously I haven't played Dragon Quest IX yet, but if people don't like the graphics, honestly, that's a legitimate complaint. Well, that's a personal matter when you think a generation gets going. I think it takes some time, even with the N64 and GameCube. Arguably, this generation has been much slower to get going because the PS3 has been less successful than it might have been. As a result, gaming has become very westernised. You've got the American HD machine and the Japanese SD machine, both very popular. We need the Japanese HD machine to take off more before it's like previous generations again.

A lot of people think skimmed milk causes spots. My instinct is there's some truth to that, but I still drink it for muscle and strength. If I get a spot, I find the best thing to do is rub soap into it, and it soon clears up.