Old meme is old, I know, but I've been in Miami all week and Niero has not stopped playing it. It's stuck in my head and I feel I must exorcise the demon by posting it on the frontpage. So yes, do please look at my horse. My horse is amazing.
While I am here, I promised I'd give a shout out to Destructoid's new Steam group, since I am now a super PC gamer and have been rocking the computer games all week. So yeah, if you're a Steam user and love Dtoid, check it out!
Anyway, videogames. Hit the jump to find out about all the damn videogames.
Dyson:NSMBW. Working on 100% completion so I can access the extra levels. Aaaaaaaaand, uh, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. That's about it. SO EXCITE!!!!!!
Sterling: Beat Assassin's Creed II for review. Long game. Too long. Also been trying to play Left 4 Dead 2 when the lag doesn't utterly decimate my fun, which it does often and without remorse. I am also a PC gamer now, and downloaded Zeno Clash from Steam to try it out. I simply adore how weird and original it is, and the first-person combat is interesting. So far it looks a touch repetitive, but it's early goings.
Also rocked Doom II (nostalgia!), Audiosurf (amazing!) and used Fallout 3 to test the new graphics card (outside the vault with all settings pushed to the max and it runs beautifully). I also have Dawn of War II downloaded but am yet to check it out. Looking forward, though!
Most of the week was spent in Miami, previewing Raskulls for XBLA. Our full coverage is coming soon, but let me say right now that it's a crazy fun party game and I believe my faith in it was justified. Stay tuned for hot video of the game in action!
Bennett: I just started Persona PSP. I'm super late on getting around to it but I'm just loving every minute of it.
Tolentino: I broke down and rented Modern Warfare 2 on the PS3, and about midway through the campaign my launch-model 60gb died, displaying the so-called Yellow Light of Death. Perhaps I am being punished for not taking my PC gamer indignation cross-platform.
In the meantime I completed Assassin's Creed Bloodlines on the PSP. The latter really does feel like an Assassin's Creed game, but sadly plays more like the first one than the second. At least I'll be able to unlock Assassin's Creed II goodies for when I get my PS3 back.
Also, I'm finding Dragon Age surprisingly playable on my dumpy laptop. As an added plus, turning the details down to "low" removes the ridiculous blood spatter effect. People should never engage in such plummy conversation without at least toweling off.
Zimmerman: The stack of games I haven't played is getting higher, while the stack of games I have, well, isn't. I've been pretty much decimated by some nasty cold all week, which would normally be conducive to playing games but I just kept getting dizzy after a bit.
Still, I managed to play some Borderlands, admittedly a bit under duress. My woman has become an absolute addict ever since we started this three-way system link thing in our apartment. We've all hit level fifty and will probably finish a second playthrough ... just in time for The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned to come out on Tuesday.
She and Gearbox may be conspiring to kill me.
Cantler: The usual. :P
Concelmo:NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII ALL WEEK! I LOVE IT SO MUCH! :D
The other day I was playing the game with a few friends who don't regularly play videogames. At one point, we were ascending one of the early castles the game (the one with the all the chainlink fences you have to grab onto). Everyone in the room was drinking beer, laughing uncontrollably, generally having an all around amazing time. Even though our progress through the level was ridiculously slow since everyone was dying, all that mattered was that everyone was having such a great time.
It was glorious.
The more I play New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the more I fall in love with it. The details in the game are so splendid that I really couldn't have hoped for a better gaming experience.
Razak:NSMB Wii! I agree with all aforementioned praise and greatness. Not that the VGA's are anything but a big, overblown advertisement, but it's so frickin annoying that it didn't get a game of the year nod at all. God forbid something that didn't involve guns or copious amounts of violence get a nod. Just shows what a joke the VGAs are.
Holmes: So far, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is my GOTY. I've never played a 2D platformer that has this kind of universal appeal. Hell, I'm not sure if I've played any videogame ever that has this sort of universal appeal.
I know that everybody doesn't love it, but it seems that everyone who actually gives it a try at least likes it. So far, I've played the game with an angry, PS3-loving drug addict; a paranoid schizophrenic who can barely speak; two part-time models who think that videogames are for nerds; some little kids; and, of course, my actual friends. All of them became instantly addicted. They seriously couldn't put it down.
So yeah, I played NSMB Wii with all those people, and played the Bit.Trip BEAT demo (Dtoid mention at the end, hooray!), the FFCC: My Life as a Darklord demo (which ruled), Pokemon Rumble (which is awfully awesome), Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (for review), and Excitebike Wold Rally (addictive online). Also revisited Blast Works/Tumiki Fighters, and the Bit.Trip games, all to prepare for Bit.Trip VOID, which comes out tomorrow.
DMV: Been playing through Modern Warfare 1's story fairly slowly, and am now getting serious with BlazBlue by spending way too much time on the Dustloop forums. There's so much I don't know, and I'm determined to get better at this. I suppose I'll need to start spending an hour or two in practice mode every day to learn how to do a lot of these combos and make them muscle memory.
Aziz:Modern Warfare 2! Also, Halo: ODST,Sonic 2 and holy crap why did nobody tell me how AWESOME 'Splosion Man was?! Tonight, I will be playing Mario Kart 64 to prepare for a tournament tomorrow at a Play N' Trade. Loving this vacation!
Grim: I've also been playing some New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I would have beaten the last world by now if my sister and I didn't try to sabotage each other 90% of the time. Whoever thought being able to pick up teammates and A) jumping into lava, killing the both of you, or B) throwing them into a chasm would be awesome was totally right. It never gets old. Also, some Modern Warfare 2. Only six Spec Ops stars to go (kill me now)!
Sarkar: My copy of Modern Warfare 2 arrived on Wednesday; by Friday evening, I beat the ridiculous (but really fun-to-play) Michael-Bay-esque solo campaign, and on Friday night, I jumped straight into some multiplayer with the Dtoid PS3 crowd. I had a great time -- I'd been away from FNF for a damn long time, and it was awesome to come back and find the same old crew (Y0j1mb0, Takeshi, SantanaClaus89, Corak, etc.) partying up to shoot dudes in the face. I played for a little over three hours and got all the way up to level 12; after some more ass-kicking multiplayer time last night, I'm up to level 16. Modern Warfare multiplayer: it's like riding a bike, man.
I bought the Abbey Road DLC for The Beatles: Rock Band last week, but I didn't actually get around to playing it until Friday afternoon (as you might have gathered, Fridays are usually big gaming days for me). I played through the Abbey Road medley three times -- I beat it on Hard drums, got 92% through it on Expert vocals before failing, and then went right back at it on Expert vocals and beat it with five stars! I'm awesome. Then I played a bunch of LEGO Rock Band, where I gold-starred "Let's Dance" on Expert guitar. Fun times! That game's soundtrack is definitely uneven, but when it's good, it's really good.
Chester:God of War Collection, Assassin's Creed II, ModNation Racers, and plenty of Rock Band (both 2 and LEGO) with my family. I'd write more, but I'd rather spend this time actually playing videogames and not writing about them... something that doesn't really happen during the week.
PerLee: I broke down and entered the 21st century and bought a 40 inch HDTV. Right now, every moment I play Assassin's Creed II or L4D2, all I can think about is how this text is going to be legible, or how that zombie is going to not be a mass of pixels. It's going to be really nice, so all I have to do now is wait for the damn TV to ship here.
Also, consider Dead Rising to be a playable game for once!
Zimmerman: I never realized how much an HDTV was going to change my life until it was there. It's good to have you with us, Ben.
I mean, er, I've been continuing trying to devote time to finishing the Ballad of Gay Tony. Also played spots of Borderlands and TF2. Even took advantage of my American XBL account having free tiem by showing people how much they suck at Call of Duty 3. Yes, 3.
Holy crap Chad, it's almost scary how excited you are.
Shamefully been playing Modern Warfare 2 most this week. Beat the story (which was awesome) and been enjoying multiplayer. Except for this weekend, I put some more time into Dragon Age, but looks like thats gettin back-burnered again cuz I picked up AC2 tonight and I'm gonna get my runny jumpy stabby on.
Star Ocean: TLH, bought the original Assassin's Creed (goozex'ing it as soon as I get all of the achievements...), and played some FF12.
It was really freakin' weird. I saw it in all of it's collector's tin glory, and that just compelled me to play it. So I did, for a total of about 5 hours throughout the weekend. And I still never want to play it again, but I will for the sake of saying "I've beat every FF game."
Finished Bowser's Inside Story. That game has one hell of a satisfying finale.
Other than that, I haven't done much.
I played a chapter of Valkyria Chronicles and tried to finish another chapter of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, but most of my gaming fun this week came from rather unexpected places.
In addition to dabbling in a little Super Mario World and New Super Mario Bros. (in anticipation for the Wii installment), I jumped back into the world of Phantom Hourglass and had a blast doing absolutely nothing. It was just a joy to guide Link around, gathering hints and hunting down treasure maps and other goodies. Most of my efforts usually ended up merely raising the arbitrary rupee count, but I got some sick pleasure out of it nonetheless.
If Phantom Hourglass has aged that well for me, then I can't wait for Spirit Tracks.
Been super busy, but been finding a few hours to play Mass Effect on PC sometimes. Played Rock Band 2 last night with some friends over as well as a little Soul Caliber 4.
I tried to give Contact another chance on trying to clear it. I failed. The game is so hard to get back with. Not that it's boring, is just feels like your HP is so valuable to recover. the second boss is so confusing and you can die immediately by simple mistakes or tactical flaws. Some time I will get pass it.
Started to give Cave Story a new go to try getting the good endings now I got this new controller. So far so good, I feel dragged again.
Downloaded GoldenEye: Source, I cannot believe I did no hear about it before, it feels so true to the original multiplayer experience.
TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2 TF2
Downloaded Sam & Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die, and completed in a bunch of hours today. So funny, but so short. Cannot blame it being a free episode and a point-n-click adventure reliable to the classics.
Went back to Super Punch-Out!! Even for being not so long ago since I played it, the World Cup is harder than ever. I cannot beat Mad Clown as before. Agh.
Beat Modern Warfare 2, which has the greatest ending to anything ever, along with spending Saturday working on the Spec Ops with a friend.
It looks like both of my RB guitar controllers are broken somehow, so now I can't play Rock Band unless I want to sing or play with my defective drum kit.
And I started Valkyria Chronicles, which has a really dull soundtrack but beautiful visuals.
Also, why are the AGA's supposed to be taken seriously? All the entries are horseshit. "Best Voice Acting" nominating Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox? I give the voice actor of the Joker in Arkham Asylum credit, but the rest is a joke. Shameless plugs.
my free time was COMPLETELY consumed by Modern Warfare 2 campaign achievement hunting (got every single achievement one can get in the main campaign. i feel ashamed.) and trophy hunting in the God of War Collection.
No, that's pretty much it. L4D2 keeps crashing even though I updated drivers and everything. And I'm stuck on Dragon Age because I'm useless at RPGs. Probably get around to finishing it soon.
Completed Snowhead Ruins in TLOZ: Twilight Princess. The highlight of the game in my opinion. I also played some multiplayer MW2, naturally.
Then at last I've been playing Assassins Creed 2 (ALOT actually), after hearing that it didnt suck after all! It's a remarkable improvement from the first game, I must say! Altough as Jim Sterling says, the game is LONG! And it takes too long to get to the good stuff that Ubisoft promised. They should've cut out alot of the unnecesary boring parts in the main story-line and make them optional side-quests instead (with attractive rewards).
Assassins Creed 2 has great butter in it, but I wish Ubisoft wouldnt spread it out so thinly.
Played Military Madness Nectaris! It filled my hexagonal SRPG need, but I'm still making small errors due to some control inputs. They shouldn't make you select where your unit is going to be and choosing your attacker while being mapped to the same button unless they are going to put an "end turn?" prompt in. So many wasted turns just on that.
I'm going out of town this week so that means I'm only gonna be playing what little there is on my laptop.
L4D2 is too freakin awesome. It keeps crashing when I play Scavenge and my achievements were lost, but I'm having too much fun to give a crap. Expansion pack my arse!
Other than that, Chrono Trigger, and maybe a retro trip through TLoZ: Link's Awakening.
I feel like I've played not nearly enough of anything this weekend, except for Echochrome, which is satisfying me everytime I play, if only for the amazing soundtrack.
Played Heavenly Sword through the first chapter, and think its gorgeous, if way clunky.**Played what feels like a little Dragon Age. I've been in Orzammer forever!**Played a little NewSMB DS, because someone told me that the enemies dance to the music, and I had never really noticed (or had forgot about it)**Played lots of PS3 demos, including Ratchet and Clank and WarHawk**
I have ondeck from GameFly both Uncharted 2 and Mario Kart Wii. I do believe I have the fixins for a a very nice Thanksgiving weekend, after what's shaping up to be a very tough Thanksgiving Crunch Week. :(
Playing through Bully. I was hoping to have my next batch of minireviews up after Bully this week but this game is way longer than I anticipated.
So far it's classic last gen Rockstar. Great game that gets hung up by it's own technological limitations. Hope the sequel fares better as it probably will. I feel like this is a good gen to be Rockstar. They finally have the tech to meet their ambitions.
This week I'll probably finish Bully, write up the next edition of SIDSTLTITYWIWD and (hopefully) get Band Hero and Borderlands. Probably a lot of Hero games and Rock Band since the family is coming down too.
Got Left 4 Dead 2, Assassin's Creed 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii this week. Dragon Age Origin's is officially on hold. I've had a lot of problems with L4D2 (surprisingly it's Steam's fault and not my CPU)
So! I played a TON of AC2 all week. I like it a lot. Also NSMBW on multiplayer. That game is just non-stop fun and hilarity.
In terms of gaming, Finally killed Beldr in Devil Survivor. Preparing for the Battle with Belilal one in-game day early, trying to stop from Kaido from ripping Keisuke's head off and am fighting him, Midori, Pazuzu and Black Frost (First reaction: HOLY SHIT,HE"S HUUUGE!). And I can create Yama and Odin through Fusion, which is awesome.
In non Devil Survivor land, I've bee replaying Batman Arkham Asylum on Hard for some reason, In the last stretch of MW2's Single Player campaign, and got a free copy of Borderlands on the PC in time for the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned DLC, but couldn't play it on account of the fact that I'm still rebuilding my PC.
Other than that, I've been re-reading Batman Hush for the fourth time in a row
I wish I was playing Assassin's Creed 2 like so many others, but Ubisoft is making my elitist ass wait a while first.
This week I played a lot more Dragon Age, which is just an amazing game I can't believe they released in the modern gaming era in a lot of ways. I have been replaying Kane and Lynch after hearing news of the second, as I always thought it was an underrated game. Throw in some Borderlands, though I think it gets boring after a while, and the original Call of Duty.
@ Jim: Fallout looks amazing maxed out, hope you're enjoying it. Oblivion, despite its age, still looks amazing maxed out as well, especially if you force AA and AF onto it from your control panel.
@ Tolentino: There is a mod to remove the blood spatter, so you can play on any detail setting you want and still have no blood. Look for it on dragon age nexus.
I just woke up from Borderlands. Yes woke up. There is no other way to describe a state in which only outside influence (The kid wanting to play Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics) can get you out.
Bloodsplatter in Dragon Age: Origins... the PS3 version has an option where you can turn it off... I found it rather distracting afterawhile - too much of a good thing.
For myself... MAG beta was extended... and I'm still addicted. Also playing Ratchet and Clank, Borderlands in splitscreen with my husband, Dragon Age Origins and just starting the solo campaign on MW2.
I got a PS3 for my birthday this past week and have been playing Uncharted 2, Fat Princess, Batman: Arkham Asylum, inFamous and some PSN games. They're all great games, especially Uncharted 2 which is incredible. OMG COLLAPSING BUILDINGS!
Also got into the Bad Company 2 beta. I had no interest in this game at first, but I am now wanting so hard. I'm really excited.
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9:00 PM on 11.22.2009, Jim Sterling
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