Jamba

Drunk much today short-stuff?

Oh yeah i agree with you. But the basic game design is still there. "Get new weapon to open THAT door..." and so on. Just cos you split it up into planets doesnt make it that different.

Does everybody think that Metroid 3 is going to be very different this time? Cos to be honest, it is formulaic too its just that its better hidden (i feel). I wonder if they are going to take a different tac in the game design because it essentially is a case of "investigate are --> find new item --> new item allows further exploration --> rinse and repeat". They tried to mix that up in hunters but it was essentially the same. What could they do to change it? On top of that, what could they do to change Zelda? I'd welcome another Majora's Mask in that sense. Leave the stupid Princess out of it. Make it about Link for once.

Oh Super Metroid is BETTER than the GBA ones. Mostly because it was actually pretty hard. Also it was the first Metroid to have a map (as i remember) but didnt have the hint system. Which for me made it a real adventure game. This will be an INSTANT purchase on VC, although I do actually have the cartridge.

Errr is that better or worse than Ultima? It does reeeeally look like it tho. Oh wait! Ultima 8? Lol

Ultima 9: Ascension! (Hummms Royal Britannia!)

I think that Hiro will become the legend in the past that inspired him as a child. Hmmm.... cmon Chapter 2.

Oh! Oh YEAH! Sparks kicks ass. You my friend...... deserve a cookie. Shame I dont have one :P

Just remembered my friends reasoning for being bi-sexual. He said that we will fall in love for who someone is not what sex they are. I'm sure other people have heard something similar before but I htought that was really beautiful.

OK here we go... round 2!

NAh.... I'm gonna reveal a bit more of the pic later on tonight if no one gets it

Nope! Lolz this is great.... everyone kinda knows it

If you click little guys while they are on the right in the nav screen you get to play a little music game. Its pure genius. Those recorder sounds get me every time!

Oooh still no. This is fun

Awesome chapter. oWario... what's your name??

GTA, Tomb Raider 2, New Super Mario Bros. (dont really HATE but still), Morrowind (its SO damn boring!)

just adding really... Super Probotector (aka Contra 3), Super Metroid, FlashBack, Mega Man games, Casltevania games, Super Battletoads, Desert/Jungle/Urban Strike, Super Putty Ill add more if i have any brain waves

Nope and nope.

Oh wow... this bandwagon apparently just has too much room! Lets get a party started, WHOOO! Wow. Another parent not taking responsibility for their actions. Shocked? Noooo.

I have to go with Metroid and here's my slightly elaborate reason. During my course this year we had a lecture about an interesting program called Strange Analyst which is developed by a company on site at the university. One of the ways that they categorise the games is by an idea called "flinch". Basically you take each of the activities that you conduct during the gameplay and measure them on a scale between "flinch" (something you do quickly and instinctively) or "contemplative" (where you take your time and consciously figure something out). With this you build up a profile for the game. Interstingly, it seems that this is a better way of categorising which games people are interested rather than groups like genres (which was always a broken idea form the start). What I realised from this was that I like games that give me a really broad spectrum of flinch vs. contemplative. Now both Zelda and Metroid are similar in these respects because they both have a lot of action balanced against problem solving. It keeps the pace of the game changing and therefore stops me getting bored with basically feeling like im doing similar things again and again. I just think I prefer the profile of Metroid. I find the action more visceral rather than Zelda's which is far less dynamic. Also the puzzles and and spacial/navigation problems (like puzzles and figuring out where you are going) in Metroid are just inherant in its design which make it feel like it just blends into the world. Zelda on the other hand, it just feels really obvious where I need to go and what I need to do almost ALL the time. Admittedly the "Hint System" takes some of the frustration out of Metroid but it does lose some of the fun too. So yeah, Metroid is just more my sort of game but on top of this I find it a more consistently good series. I feel like Zelda is really getting tired now and unless they radically change the way that it is designed then I dont think that that is going to change.

OK here's one...

Yeah, I was just about to say. Even worse though is the fact that they assess the market viability of the product on the success in the States and Japan. So they wont even decide whether to publish this until it does well over seas. How messed up is that?

Yeah, sorry that was more meant to be a jab at the fact that there still arent that many 3rd party releases coming. All credit to Nintendo for being able to pull out this many games actually. Shame that the Wii seems to still have to rely on them.

Not enough other titles though really. 1 a month? For the best selling platform?

Im not sure about the music but the actualy visuals of MP1s menu was the BEST i have ever seen in a game. I was totally jazzing myself when i first saw it in all its 60hz glory. Yeah that corruption font is a bit icky but the music is great. Cant wait to hear it a full quality. God, the idea of having such an atmoshperic experience again is unfair! October is far away! EDIT: You know how Metroid is very inspired by the Sci-Fi movies from the 80s? Especially Alien... well I just watched this: And when you hear how simple the time signature is on the piano it makes me think of the music from Terminator. Just remember how cold and lonely it feels.