Americas UP! (5th February 2011)

[Michael-5]

pitzy272 said:

Michael-5 said:

I didn't pay attention to XBox at first, but when that Gears of War 1 "Mad World" Comercial first played, I though the mood that game set up was almost like a dream game for me. It also made me feel like the next generation was "now" (At the time). So I waited a few months to see what future PS3/Wii games would be like, and nothing on the PS3 I found interesting. Motorstorm was cool, but I saw that could get boring, and Resistance 1 was meh, and Lair and Heavenly Sword were over-priced half finished projects.

360 had Gears, it had PGR3, it had Lost Planet and Elder Scrolls as exclusives at the time. It had PGR4, Forza 2, Mass Effect, also Halo 3 comming out in 2007, and multiconsoles games like Assassin's Creed, Need for Speed ProStreet and Call of Duty 3 looked better on 360. It was also $200 less, and just a much better bargan at the time. I'll come back to games in a minute.

Sony reliability is good in their TV's and DVD players, but I'm not convinced about Playstation brand consoles. My PS1 and PS2 died about after 6 years of owning them (right before the next gen), and this just reminded me about GM's Planned Obsolesce. However I feel this was just a coincidence, and to be fair my PS1 and PS2 were both first gen, and known to have defective parts. Nintendo is the only real console what's reliable. In my entire lifetime of owning Nintendo consoles (ALL of them except Virtual Boy), I'be only had 1 controller break down on me, and if you ever played Mario Party 1, then you will see that was reasonable. What I've learned is that, Sony is the best, but wait for a second gen console and a price cut.

Also I 100% agree with you about MS being Money hungry. I bought my 360 with an extended warrenty fearing a break down. I had RRoD, I wanted to fix it through Future Shop (same as Best Buy), where my warrenty was purchased, but MS forced retailers to send all RRoD problems to them. Why? So that MS can confirm RRoD problems and keep the failure rate as low as possible. It was also a hasstle dealing with them on the phone because they actually sent me a broken 360 to replace my new one and said the problem must be the game disks (which worked perfectly before and perfectly on my friends console). This bs customer service, ontop of overpriced XBL, without options for shorter term online play (I really only play online during the holidays for about a 4 month period), and poor quality is why I hate MS.

Back to games, I'm not a big fan of the PS3 exclusives. PS2 and PS1 had a lot better exclusives, I think this gen, a lot of the star titles went multiplatform, and I just prefer 360 games. I'm not a fan of MGS, and I honestly gave the franchise a try, I beat MGS2 for PS2, and MGS1 for Gamecube. It just has too many cinematics (beat MGS2 on my second playthrough in 2.5 hours by skipping all cinematics). Resistance is fun, but it's nothing special. God of War, well I prefer Devil May Cry, and I'm not a big fan of action games. Heavy Rain, amazing game, but Alan Wake is just as long, and just as good. Demon's Souls is a great RPG, but I think Lost Odyssey was a bit better, more traditional, and that's how I like my JRPG's. Ratchet and Clank, LBP, I only like Nintendo platformers. I've tried these games, I just can't get into them. Syphon Filter for PS2 was fun, but not that different fron Splinter Cell. Twisted Metal on PS3 looks half assed (why do entire buildings fall down when you only shoot the corner?)

InFamous, Demon's Souls, Uncharted 2 (and likely 3, but not 1), The Last Guardian, and GT5 are all awesome games, and there are a few other great ones I could mention. Tales of Graces, Disgaea 3, FFXIII Versus, Valkyria Chronicles, the Motorstorm franchise, and Folklore. All great games I have, or plan to get when they are released.

But to me, I still prefer 360 games. Forza3 > GT5 (and I own ALL Forzas and ALL GT's), Halo > Killzone/Resistance, Gears > Uncharted, Lost Odyssey > Demon Souls, and like I said I'm a fan of racing games and RPG's. 360 just has more. Mass Effect is a better experience on 360 then PS3, and for a long time was an exclusive franchise, Tales of Vesperia, Magna Carta 2, Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant, Too Human (one of my favorite games this gen), Blue Dragon, and timed exclusives (which are cheaper used on the 360) like Star Ocean, Elder Scrolls 4, and Mass Effect 2, all great 360 only, or timed 360 only games. Also racing games, PS3 really only has GT5, and that just came out. I have put in about 60 hours into Forza 2, 40 hours into Forza 3, and about 20 hours into PGR3 and 4 each. Test Drive Unlimited 1 was also a fun as hell racing game, and filled in my need for street racing when NFS went to shit.

It's nice to see that your happy with owning a PS3, and not one of the many people here trying to convince me PS3 is better. Everyone has their own personal tastes. I just went over why PS3 exclusives just aren't for me, but 360 exclusives are. I'm not a fan of Fable either, and I didn't like Splinter Cell until I played Conviction and loved it (got the same reviews as GoW3). However PS3 just didn't have a good lineup for me until Uncharted 2 came out, and even now I think it's exclusive RPG and Racing game lineup isn't enough for me.

However if I were to buy a console now, I would go PS3, and maybe get an Arcade 360 on boxing day/black friday (last year I saw arcade models for $130!). GT5 is out, Uncharted is awesome, and there are already a lot of JRPG's to catch up on.

Thats one thing I will miss from the PS2. It had tons of quality racing games and RPGs. Now everything is becoming shooters.

P.S. I mentioned a lot of Playstations old exclusives went multiplatform right? Well I want to add that, a lot of my favorite games are multiplatform games. GTA IV, Resident Evil 5, Fallout 3, Vanqish, Dead Space, Assassin's Creed, and NFS are all multiplatform right? I don't see that much of a difference between PS3 and 360, but if Gears of War is not MS exclusive next gen, it's almost certain I'll get a PS4 early.

P.P.S. If you had to list your favorite current gen games, what would they be? Include games you think you would like too if you had a 360, or a Wii even.

Mine are (in alp order cause I can't decide which is best): Fallout 3, Forza Motorsport 2&3, Gears of War 1&2, GT5, Lost Odyssey, Mario Kart Wii, Mass Effect 1&2, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Too Human, Uncharted 2 - As you see: 7 360 games, 3 Wii games, 2 PS3 games, 2 Multi Console.

360 just has a good selection of RPG's (expecially JRPG's), Racing games, and Sci-Fi shooters. So even though MS is garbage, I love the games

 

Sorry it took me  a while to respond. In grad school and real busy. Trying to stay away from all video game affiliated sites during the week haha.

Anyways, my first three favorite games are easy. And they're actually not my favorite of this gen, but my favorite of all time. The other games are mainly just my favorite of this gen, though LBP and Batman are amazing:

1. MGS4 - have you tried this game? You mentioned you tried 1 & 2, but I didn't think you said you tried 4. I love a good story that draws me into it and the characters, so to me there is just no game like MGS4 (Uncharted 2 does a great job of this as well, but it's the only competitor to MGS4 in my eyes, and still falls below it). The only thing is, if you hate cutscenes, that may be something you dislike about MGS4. There are def a good bit of cutscenes, but the story to me is so incredible, I almost enjoyed the cutscenes as much as I enjoyed the gameplay (and the gameplay is excellent). I think I mentioned before, but MGS4 was the first MGS game I fully played. I played MGS1 when I was younger, but never really thought I liked it enough to even play through the entire game. So until MGS4, I thought I didn't even like MGS. I've now played through and beaten MGS1. Got 2 & 3 as well, but anxiously waiting for the day I'll have time (in grad school currently) to play them.

2. Uncharted 2 - just an excellent game, all around, not to mention the best graphics I have ever laid eyes on.

3. inFAMOUS - love the gameplay, and also thought the story and characters were both excellent. Def has room for improvements, but I enjoyed the heck out of this game. Oh, and my name is Cole. Semi-rare name, and the first I had seen it in a video game haha. inFAMOUS 2 looks like it will be incredible, seeminly stepping it up in every area from inFAMOUS 1 - action, gameplay fun factor and mechanics, powers/abilities, graphics, etc.

My other favorite games aren't quite as set in stone, but I'll try to order them

4/5/6. Batman: AA - just a great game

4/5/6. Resistance: FoM - the main thing I like about this game is the environment, the mood, the eeriness of it; also the gameplay and fun and varied weapons. The game could def use  a lot of improvements (R2 went the opposite direction unfortunately besides its fantastic online Co-op), but I still really like it for some reason. The characters are horrible, with Hale being one of the more boring and unlikable main characters I've played, but it has a lot of strong positives to make up for its negatives. Resistance 3 is looking like it will be amazing, and is one of my most anticipated upcoming games

4/5/6. LittleBigPlanet - this game is just awesome. I can't put it up at #1 or anything bc the most fun is had when with friends, but I have had in incredible amount of fun with this game. I'm 24, and when I first saw this game it looked like a kiddy game. But the thing that impresses me so much about LBP is its ability to be enjoyed by people of all ages, sexes, and personalities. From my guy friends to my girl friends to my family (including my mom and grandmother) who normally hates video games - all of these people have played this with me and had an absolute blast, smiling and laughing the whole time. The learning curve is low (so even grandmothers can pick up and play haha), the character is so dang cute (swallowing my pride and manhood on that one), the gameplay is fun, the puzzles are intelligent, the teamwork is fantastic, and the ability to literally NEVER run out of new levels to play is simply ingenious.

7. Heavy Rain - I would probably say this would come next, though Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction is really fun bc of all its awesome, quirky weapons. As I mentioned before, HR had several moments that were the most intense I have ever experience in a video game (and maybe even in a movie as well.

8. Uncharted: DF had a great story (and I loved Elena! haha). But the gameplay really didn't do it for me most of the time. Still a great game all around though imo.

I own Motorstorm 1 & 2. Motorstorm 2 added split screen and some other appreciated features, but they really screwed up the fantastic gameplay M1 brought. Didn't realize until I bought M1 months after I had already been playing M2, but the difference is significant. If M3 builds off of M1's gameplay and driving mechanics, while also maintaining the new features from M2 as well as many new features, then I will be very excited for M3. Enjoyed M1 a lot, which says a lot from someone who doesn't usually get into racing games, but the amount of game mode options (i.e. 1 or 2) was pitiful. Could tell it was rushed for the ps3 launch.

As for 360 exclusives I think I would like...

GeoW series and Alan Wake, and maybe SC:C (but didn't look all that special to me personally). I've never played any of these games, so I'm not even sure if I would like them or not; though I think I could be confident to say I'd probably like Gears. Alan Wake looked like it would be pretty cool, though critic and user reviews are pretty mixed and often times negative. But still would enjoy giving it a try. Looked really unique as far as environment, story, and somewhat gameplay wise with the flashlight.

Btw, 4 of the 10 ps3 exclusives you mentioned you really liked are all coming out/coming out with sequels this year (Last Guardian, inFAMOUS 2, Uncharted 3, Motorstorm: Apocalypse). Maybe you'll be able to add a few more ps3 exclusives to your like list by the end of 2011 ;)

Oh, and the Gears of War 1 Mad World commercial...yeah man, that was pretty epic (ha! no pun intended). I still remember that. Think I even remember looking it up later on the internet at college bc I wanted to see it again ha. The trailer was amazing, and the song couldn't have been more perfect. I'm hoping Cliffy B. starts making a great series (or Gears) available for ps3 sometime in the near future.

As for PS reliability...i only recently got a ps2, but I've had my ps1 for...what...13 yrs or so I think? And it still works to this day. But that really is something that varies unfortunately, especially at the beginning of a generation. And I think you're right, think I saw some ridiculously low failure rate for the Nintendo Wii from a study. Was really impressed by it. Think 360 at the time was approx 50%, ps3 was like 10% I think? And Wii was like 3-5%. I can't say for sure of course, but I don't think Sony partakes in the whole planned obsolece movement. To me, that just seems directly contradictory to the fact that they seem to try to pack so much value into their products, especially talking the ps3.

Anyways, been writing this for way too long. So much schoolwork I should've been doing haha. But I'm enjoying this convo, good discussion.

I know how you feel, I'm just finishing my undergraduate now, I get busy too.

1. MGS4 - I've beaten MGS1 and 2, I played 3 for a few hours but got bored, and I played Act 1 of MGS4, didn't like it. I can see why other people do, but to me it's just a brand name game (Like Zelda), so it will sell well, and get good ratings no matter what.

2. Uncharted 2 - Yea, thats a really good game, but I think Killzone 2 has better graphics. I'm not arguing if PS3 doesn't have good games, it's got some great ones, I just prefer some of the 360 exclusives. As few as they are, some of them are really polished.

3-10. InFamous, Heavy Rain, Batman, and Motorstorms are all awesome games. Resistance, LBP, and Uncharted 1 were good, but nothing special to me.

I read you whole post BTE, but I got a lot of work to do too. Anyway, to each their own right? Mass Effect 2 is my favorite game of all time, and Gears of War 1 breaks the top 5, while 2 break my top 10. Forza 3 also breaks my top 10, but after that no other current gen games does.

And yes, PS3 has a lot of sequels to games I like. I'm very looking forward to Mass Effect 3, Gears of War 3, The Last Guardian, Forza Motorsport 4, Uncharted 3, Assassin's Creed 3, Fallout New Vegas: GOTY Edition (too cheap to get the game now and pay for all DLC), InFamous 2, and Motorstorm 3 and thats in order of hype.