What Are You Playing? (Winter 2010-2011)

Since it's officially the first day of winter and the fourth day of my 17 day vacation, I figured it was time for a new thread and an update:

PC: Mafia II, Dead Space
PS3: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (rental), Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (rental)
360: DoDonPachi: Dai Fukkatsu v1.5
iOS: Angry Birds: Seasons (Greedings)

Mafia II was an early Christmas present, and I really like it after the first hour. It seems like it's going to be one of those 8-12 hour games that are really my sweet spot. It runs like a dream with everything set to max, which is a bonus. I didn't try it in 3D yet, so I'll have to see how that affects the frame rate tomorrow.

Hot Pursuit is a tough call. I can't decide whether to go for the Platinum on PS3 or to just send it back and get the PC version. The same choice frankly exists for Sonic Racing as well. If that hits $10 during the current Steam sale, the rental's going back, as I read that the PC frame rates are much smoother.

I haven't been spending as much time as I should with DDP:DFK, given that the Black Label and Ketsupachi are due in less than two months. If I send the two PS3 racers back, I can leave my TV in tate, which would make it more readily accessible (Yes, I am too lazy sometimes to take 1 minute to rotate the TV and make sure it's level.).

I'll be curious to see how many people get addicted to Angry Birds on XBLA. I'm surprised more of the iOS crowd isn't playing it. Getting high scores and three stars makes for insane replay, and each version is $0.99, so you get some triple digit number of levels for less than $2 total.

Nier: Great little action/RPG that was purchased on a whim. There's nothing better than having a cheap game come out of nowhere and impress.

PinballFX 2: I simply refuse to let Cowutopia have all the high scores. :D

Madden 10: Got it for $12 at Walmart, and after some roster tweaking it's good enough for me. I'm not going to pay full price for a sports game, but I had an urge for some football.

Fallout 3 GOTY Edition: $25 new at Walmart. I beat this with all achievements (expansions included) on the 360, and I wanted to play it again. Got the PS3 version cheap.

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Originally Posted by Melf

Nier: Great little action/RPG that was purchased on a whim. There's nothing better than having a cheap game come out of nowhere and impress.

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The camera not having an auto center is unacceptable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icarusfall

The camera not having an auto center is unacceptable.

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I'm pretty sure it does have that.

*checks manual*

Yep. Click the right stick, dummy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Melf

PinballFX 2: I simply refuse to let Cowutopia have all the high scores. :D

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Just wait. I'm restocking on blazing materials and plugging the xbox back in.

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Originally Posted by Bacon McShig

I'm pretty sure it does have that.

*checks manual*

Yep. Click the right stick, dummy.

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It should autotrack.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

I figured it was time for a new thread and an update:

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You figured wrong. No reason for a new thread. Merge this shit.

Shit I thought this was the old thread.

It's ok Yoshi always thinks it's ok to make a thread when he thinks he has something really important to say about himself.

It's not fall, douchebags. It's no different than a new haul thread for a new month.

Color Cross (DS)- Decent Picross knock-off, interface is acceptable and music isn't grating. Instead of quaint pixel animation for completing a puzzle you reveal some ugly illustrations in each category. Check your bargain bins!

Legendary Starfy (DS)- Yay short term memory. Played two Starfi games for GBA and forgot the lack of challenge and abundance of annoying conversations. The 3D backdrops look remarkably good for the hardware, character animation is passable. Packed this one up and gave to my friend's little girl. Definitely for the Kirby and Super Princess Peach crowd.

Game Center CX 2 (J-DS)- Bought a used copy so the games were all unlocked already. The selection is pretty good. Wiz-man is a entertaining maze title. Gun Duel is this version's Star Prince with a weapon system from a Compile shooter. The mid-bosses are speedy, pesky little fighters that put up a good fight. Not bad for fans of SMS, NES, PCE era verts! Demon Returns is weird, Namco's deconstruction of the Super Mario Bros formula. You can surf on enemies you flip over, but the game never seems to move at a comfortable pace. Feels dragged down from Mario or Master Higgins due to collection of souls from enemies. Still compelling enough to see to the end. Having played through both Japanese Game Centers it really sucks that this won't be localized. The entire thing feels dead without the charming translation Xseed whipped up in Retro.