The Computer/Console Gaming Thread

[shokwave2]

So no one else got a Wii U? Despite my post a few pages back, i decided to get one on a whim.. it kinda did have a price drop so that makes it ok

My impressions are mostly positive - I only got Mario and it's a great game - more challenging than NSMB2 and it looks sweet in HD. I was surprised how much joy i got out of seeing just a plain mario block rendered crisply

We tried out 'boost mode' which is where a second player uses the touch screen to place blocks throughout the level to aid or hinder the first player - my wife is absolutely terrible at it but we had a good time regardless!

The gamepad controller, well the screen is pretty low res and the feed is somewhat compressed - i've noticed a few artifacts here and there which is a shame, cause it makes things look less crisp than even a 3DS. Playing on it while watching TV is pretty awesome though, as is the TV remote functionality. I think it'll be even more impressive on a game that pushes the hardware more than Mario does. I got some decent wireless range on it in my house as well, thankfully.

The system OS is really slow between apps, very clunky and disappointing considering the hardware. I was however impressed by the web browser which appears to use some pre-loading technique, cause it loads faster than my laptop browser!

Yeah I picked up one on launch day. Got the Premium Black console and Mario U. The kids love Nintendoland and I enjoy playing a few of the games with them. Some of the mini games have a bit of depth to them too. As for Mario U, I swapped it 3 days later for Darksiders 2, as it was just a prettier version of all the others. Darksiders 2 on the other hand is awesome.

As for the Wii U console, some people see it as gimmick or less powerful machine then the X360 or PS3. But once you play it and realise that it can run various apps at once (game, miiverse, and Internet browser), across both screens, it's actually pretty powerful and very useful. I find myself checking websites in between game levels or watching YouTube clips to get hints, etc. Plus there was an system update last night which speeds up the slowish menus and loading times.

It's only gonna get better with new updates in the future and the software will be stronger in the next few months. It has great range too. The console is currently hooked up in my lounge room, but I can play using the Gamepad upstairs in bed and was even playing in the backyard while cooking a BBQ!

Awesome gaming machine and it frees up the tv for my wife and kids.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

WHOOOOOOO! So after some messing about, a fair bit of swearing and sore arms, forcing me to take a day off the gaming console, I finally have 157 star coin thingoes for Sonic Transformed. I need 165 to unlock all the characters. Phew. Almost there.

I ahve been reading on the gamefaqs board about people complaining its hard, and well it is if you play on the hard and expert settings. But what i have found most interesting is that this method has forced me to play the game smarter. Whereas before I could manage the medium setting, but got my arse handed to me on hard, now I am at the point where I can usually beat the hard races and with a change of tactics the expert as well. I suspect that without the incentive of the collection of the star coins whatever they are to unlock characters, I would have not gotten to the skill level that I am now.

Sadly though this means that whenever I have the missus playing the game, I am bound to win. It has been an interesting concept for me. Annoyingly though to get the last 8 starscoins I need, I think I have to play the 'games' that I don't think are very enjoyable. Mainly the ring races where you ahve to fly through rings and battle modes where you have to chase and shoot a tank.

I hate the battle modes the most as the ammo pick ups are the same colour and almost the same shape as the little barriers the tanks drops to stop you from getting too close. Who thought this was a good idea?? I mean come on. I only have a couple of races to go for the stars which won't be enough, and they are on trracks I dont really like that much. But I will perservere.

So on the plus side, the difficulty has made me a better player of the game, but on the negative side, I very much doubt that many people will botgher as much as I have and there is no way in hell that a little kid is likely to unlock them all without some help. i must admit that once I got to about 115, I have been struggling with far more fails than victories.

Although the other night i was on a roll, which was incredibly satisfying.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Continuing on with my Sonic Transformed Adventure, I have been slowly chipping away at the last few starscoinwhatevers over the past few days. Its been tough. It appaesr that on the expert setting, you just can't hold the pedal down through the whole track, you have to slow down for the best race time.

Oddly though one thing I found incredibly annoying is that it obviously tries to keep the top racers in a group, but that doesn't seem to apply to you so much. As an example, I was on a speedy track, using Sonic with his 'Speed' mod (so all set for high speed, giving him the highest speed rating (about 8)so you'd think I'd blast through everybody, buut one of the slowest racers (speed 2) cruises up behind me and just sails on by as if all is sweet with the world. And yet if I am 10th at the back of the pack, 9 still decides that it's a good idea to shoot me. And I get no speed up to help catch up. Wierd.

Anyway long story short, after quite a bit of swearing, I finally managed to get the last coins I needed to unlock AGES, a lovely homage to SEGA coolness. And that was all I wanted, so I don't think I'll be going back to the coin mode any time too soon.

AGES comes from an advertising campaign that ran in the UK for the Saturn which had a catch phrase of "It takes AGES to get this good, It takes SEGA to get this good." Never came out here, coz we didn't have any saturn advertising.

That's all for now, I got some cups to win with AGES thanks.

[The_Damned]

far cry 3 is a lot of fun.

[morg176]

I know its not hard core gaming but SIMCITY (2013 reboot) looks impressive as a city simulator.

thoughts

it opens up an expansion possibility that previous incarnations could not through limitations of technology. Looks interesting...

[Kazza]

Spent 14hrs straight playing tales of graces f on ps3, havent had a game made me forget about time and the need to eat among other things in a long time.

[Gutsman Heavy]

Dolphin HD is really the shizz! Shame it sends my cpu into meltdown (75C!!) I really need to get some better cooling.

[shokwave2]

far cry 3 is a lot of fun.

Love it. It's made my top 3 games of all time. I'm a hoarder so I love nothing more than running across the country side collecting everything I can get my hands on.

[snaketales]

Couple of personal milestones on Dead Space 2 multiplayer this week.

I set a new streak for myself - 38 kills. Mostly from rescuing and from the opposing team spawning as lurkers or the pack.

I beat a team by myself on the Escape map as a necromorph. The opposing team had a level 31 and 32. The other guy on my team wasn't playing - he's what I call an absent host (hosts the game but is not at his keyboard or whatever) - so I was all on my lonesome. And I managed to win! They got to the last objective but with only 17 seconds to go. The best part was one time while I was a lurker I managed to kill them both at the same time!

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I beat a team by myself on the Escape map as a necromorph. The opposing team had a level 31 and 32. The other guy on my team wasn't playing - he's what I call an absent host (hosts the game but is not at his keyboard or whatever) - so I was all on my lonesome. And I managed to win! They got to the last objective but with only 17 seconds to go. The best part was one time while I was a lurker I managed to kill them both at the same time!

Impressive! Warm fuzzy feeling of glee when that sorta thing happens. I had a really good match on FOC, took my little infiltrator dude out for a spin and managed to successfully cause much grief for a destroyer and titan team all by myself! it was GOLD!