Videogames this holiday season

Also Sony needs to get a new marketing department or something because the PS3 has utterly no appeal to me. If someone offered me one for $50 I doubt I'd take it.

I prefer the PC for my flight games. Nothing beats the joystick for those. The PS3 controller just seems awkward when I tried to play Blazing Angels. I just got a new PC and I will be in the process of reloading games on it when I get back from California. My biggest complaint though is that all games seem to be FPS. I don't see a game where I can be a tank driver or ship driver or something like that. A couple years ago, I saw a couple games that looked interesting. One was dealing with a hypothetical air war over Central Europe in the Mid 80's and the other was by the same company dealing with the air war over Vietnam. I waited too long to pull the trigger. I'm hoping that I see a renaissance in flight games because improved graphics actually serve them well....and no cut scenes.

It has been a while since a great flight sim, probably IL-2 Sturmovic (sp?). I don't play them, to be honest. There was also a new silent hunter for subs IIRC.

Gary Sax wrote:

Mr Skeletor wrote:

Does anybody here still play PC games?

In the areas it is best in (FPS, RTS, Strategy games) the PC is still a good choice. I got tired of the treadmill of new components.

The PC also has had a huge resurgence in more casual games. Peggle, which someone mentioned, is a perfect example of this.

I exclusively play PC games. While I do generally prefer the type of games that PCs are good for, my real problem with consoles is that I can't stand those stupid controllers. I gave myself Nintendo thumb taking the Leafs to the Cup one year. I pretty much gave them up for good after that.

Aside from the areas that Gary mentioned, the PC also shines as essentially the sole platform for small, independent game developers. It's the only place you can find gems like Armageddon Empires or Mount & Blade.

Forgot that type of game for the most part. You're totally right. I was just playing Conquest of the Aegean by Matrix games just the other night.

Gary Sax wrote:

It has been a while since a great flight sim, probably IL-2 Sturmovic (sp?). I don't play them, to be honest. There was also a new silent hunter for subs IIRC.

Yes, IL-2 is the best of the bunch.

Yeah, the Wii could use something, but things are looking up after TGS. There were a number of promises to the so-called hardcore gamer (retarded name), and there some cool titles coming out. Conduit especially has me pumped. I was going to go buy Castlevania: Order of Ecchlesia today, but now I'm looking at Dokopan Kingdom and an extra Wiimote. Choices, choices.

But really I can't complain about the Wii. I just don't have enough time to sink into videogames, so their sporadic release schedule works for me and my boardgaming budget.

EDIT: Infinite Space on the DS looks really cool too. WWII-style space battles with ships you can customize, all in an RPG format.

We're getting a Wii for the kids (heh...and for me) this Christmas.

I'm a 'former' hardcore gamer, I guess...I mean, I played 'em all. But the PS3 doesn't even remotely grab me, and the 360 hardware problems with the red rings of death just ain't something I really want much part of.

The kids love the Wii. They want to play Smash Bros. and Mario Kart and Mario Galaxy and Pokemon and all that jazz. It's perfect for them.

Meanwhile I can play a lot of the same games they like--Galaxy, Kart, and Smash Bros are all excellent. Plus I can play Prime 3, Twilight Princess, and like Barnes said all the virtual console stuff so I won't have to drag out my old systems and hook them up, or chase down copies of SNES games on ebay like SUPER METROID.

I don't PC game because I hate PC controllers. I've had issues with every one I've ever tried. And I don't really like the PC style of games--RTS, Civ-stuff, all that. Truth is I've *never* been a PC gamer even though I've been interested in and have been using computers almost my entire life, back to the Apple II days.

I don't like fiddling with hardware every six months to get the latest games to run. I like plug n' play with consoles. And arcade-style games on PC are never as good as a console. NEVER. Only time I play a good arcade-style game on PC is when I'm emulating another system.


So Wii this year. MAYBE a 360 at some point next year, especially with the price drops. But considering I have a pile of unfinished games from almost every system I own, getting the few but super-high quality Wii titles will be more than enough for me. Maybe I'm getting older, but that's just how it is.

I picked up Sim City Societies the other day and it seems they finally remembered what made the first one fun. I didn't like 2000 or 3000 because there was way too much emphasis on micro managing the infrastructure. You had to put in the power lines, piping and other things. The game was too much like work. Societies lets you build up your city and have fun with it. They even have an option with unlimited cash so you can just build the city.

I tried to install some of my older games on my new PC but Vista doesn't like them...

I tried to get Little Big Planet for the PS3 yesterday but apparently there are some delays in its release.

Mr. Bistro wrote:

EDIT: Infinite Space on the DS looks really cool too. WWII-style space battles with ships you can customize, all in an RPG format.

Woah - this game looks like I'll finally get the use out of my DS that I thought I would. All I've ended up getting was Mario Cart, which I was very pleased with and Zelda, which just hasnt held up my interest as a story or play-wise. I'm maybe 1/2 through it? Dont know why it didnt grab me.

Anyone have any other DS games I should add to my list for THIS Christmas, though?

I'm right there with you - big Zelda fan, loved Wind Waker, but just couldn't get into Phantom Hourglass. My favorite DS titles are:

New Super Mario Brothers - New side-scrolling platform goodness with beautiful graphics and lots of throwbacks to old stuff.

Star Fox Command - Great flying game with an intriguing strategy element. Lots of alternate paths for the story to take.

Space Invaders Extreme - If you told me when I was kid that I would ever buy another Space Invaders game I would have tried to kick you in the nuts. But this 30th anniversary edition turns a boring old game into something hypnotic and amazing. Just look at the reviews for it.

Picross - I hate puzzle games, yet I rank this as one of the best games I have ever purchased. Solve the math, which draws the picture, which leads to the picture being animated. Sounds simple but I love it. I play it a little each night before falling asleep. I bought this thing in August, and over a year later I'm still devoting time to it. Best game value ever and it's only around $20.

Contra 4 - It's Contra. It's hard. It's real hard.

Any Castlevania game - these have all been very good. I'm looking forward to getting the newest one, Order of Ecchlesia, though I've heard it's super-crazy-old school hard.

New Super Mario Bros.: An excellent platformer and has some nostalgia while also offering some new gameplay.

Castlvania: Dawn of Sorrow: I've only played the first one, which was great. I've heard good things about Portrait of Ruin and Order of Echlesia though.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike: You can't beat Advance Wars for turn based strategy cartoon warfare. I've got Days of Ruin on my list.

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time: Very fun RPG. Mario and Luigi games add timing elements to battles that makes them very enjoyable.

Elite Beat Agents: Just quirky fun.

Animal Crossing: If you're into that kind of thing.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: Pretty fun dungeon crawl. Multiplayer is quite fun.

Puzzle Quest: A fun combo between an RPG and Bejewled.

I got FIFA 09. It truly is the best soccer game ever made, if you are into such things. I'm very, very happy with it.

I feel very close to buying fable II. It's getting lots of good press, sounds like a sandbox western RPG, supposedly like a less generic 3rd person Oblivion. That sounds pretty good to me...

I *really* liked International Superstar Soccer for the N64. I was very underwhelmed with any FIFA offerings I played. I think ISS is called Winning Eleven or something. Maybe it's the ISS engine, or I could be totally wrong.

Anyway, if ISS isn't around, is FIFA better than Winning Eleven?