Gaming room (It's a geeks paradise)

[EDKiwi]

Sorry, I was meaning more of leaderboard type games, I just meant that Battlefield had encouraged me to get onto xbox live (I was a big fan of Battlefield 2 on the PC back in NZ) so would be interested in seeing what other games are on offer, and if people are keen to start some sort of local leaderboard count me in :)

As for team play in Battlefield, personally I find the lack of being able to type messages a bit of a drawback, still it's loads of fun for a casual game.

[ratty]

i am rattty657 (3 Ts)

[mockney piers]

Xbox arcade going through a purple patch. Just downloaded Shadow Complex. Basically metroid with excellent graphics. Nice story line too making it somewhat reminiscent of Flashback, with errr good graphics.

[bon3yard]

Just picked up a copy of Arkham Asylum and dashed through the first level. Through a haze of red wine I can tell you that it is gorgeous, atmospheric and the controls are a dream. Too early to say if its a classic because the first level is essentialy a tutorial but its looking good. Now if I can just find a save point before my glass runs dry...

[EDKiwi]

I'd just like to 2nd MP's recommendations of Trails HD and Shadow Complex, finding Trails very addictive (and I also find myself emitting a fair few expletives playing it, a usual side effect of the game by the sounds of it).

Have fond memories of Flashback so gave Shadow Complex a go, took me a bit to get used to 2D again but having a blast with it now, had made me start digging through some other retro remakes on XBox Live, I see they have remade The Secret of Monkey Island but the trial game is pretty limited.

[SeanMacGabhann]

So come on the Ed - join the leaderboard competition - send an invite to

rattty657

Ed Mockers

SeanMacgabhann

are the locals I know about on Live - ratt(t)y joined relatively late in the day so gets some leeway with his scores but as of yesterday evening I managed top on every one of the first batch of courses - oh yes

[Floating Onion]

Thanks Sean.... I know I've been quiet lately, but have you forgotten me already?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Sorry onion. I just scrolled through recent posts nor have I seen you play trials. Nowt personal

[EDKiwi]

I'm fairly new to Trails but am finding the Leader board quite addictive and like the way it shows other competitors in real time at the top of the screen when you're going through a level (and find myself repeating levels trying to beat Mockneys time, often in vain).

Just to confuse the issue my gamer name is Hudson_NZ

[mockney piers]

I've got ed as a friend already. He put his name there earlier.

[mockney piers]

Oh and it's Hudson NZ

no underscore

[EDKiwi]

mockney piers Wrote:

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> Oh and it's Hudson NZ

> no underscore

Oh apologies, I forgot Xbox Live didn't like the underscore when I tried to use it originally (in the PC world I use the underscore).

[mockney piers]

My poor old gaming rig died to be replaced with a more normal desktop, but gaming potential is available in quite medioce machines these days, DDR3 memory, good quality 1gb GeForce cards and the new i7 coming as standard at little more than budget levels allowing maxed out crysis at under ?700. Not bad.

Anyhoo, tried my hand at ARMA II, the latest offering from the Czech development house that gave us the flawed visionary that was operation checkpoint.

Basicallyy i wanted something a console couldn't do ad that satisfies most of my gaming needs leaving the PC to do deep RPGs, MMORPGs (having a crack at the latest eve online) and immersive shooters.

ARMA II certainly is the latter as you spend most of your time cowering in a bush wondering where in gods name those bullets pinging up mud nearby or buzzing past your ear as your teammate cluthes his stomch in agony while your other team mate who was literally dragging him into cover lies inert next to him, are coming from.

Buggy and problematic perhaps, beautiful, ambitious and enourmous in scale, another flawed masterpiece from those Czech boys!

[mockney piers]

Oh and was Reading a review in a Spanish gaming mag, celebrating this game in the lamentable trend of 'mata a todo lo que se mueva y corre' in the genre.

'run and gun' is a tad snappier don't you think.

[SeanMacGabhann]

I see the Onion has had a good stab at a few of my records on Trials HD - that's the next few evenings sorted out then....

[Brendan]

I reply to Sean's question on another thread.

Specifically, NoFX ? Souldoubt, on medium. I can complete it but I?m trying to get the riff perfect before I move on to hard and it?s frustrating the hell out of me.

Also Pretty Vacant is fucking hard on it and in real life a quadriplegic donkey could play it blindfolded.

I?ve been tempted by the drums but not got them yet. Not sure if they would be allowed. La cassa B is already littered with about as many guitars, skateboards and other toys as one good natured wife could possibly be asked to tolerate.

[EDKiwi]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> I see the Onion has had a good stab at a few of my

> records on Trials HD - that's the next few

> evenings sorted out then....

Arrrgghh, what's with the 'Medium' difficulty level? It's suddenly gone from 'not too bad' to 'oh my f***ing god'

[Keef]

I went retro last night and spent a couple of hours playing one of the R-Type games. Forgot how bloody hard they were, so annoying that you lose all your weapons everytime you die! Still very fun.

[SeanMacGabhann]

oh Amen to that EDKiwi!

Best thing is to forget the habit of perfecting each course and just get to the end using a bazillion checkpoints. Keep doing that and by the time you get to Hard, Medium seems very doable... and so on

or at least that's what I'm told - I still like shaving nanoseconds off the easy courses. And by "enjoy", I of course mean scaring the neighbours, breaking pads, and swearing like the guy who writes Arseblog

Looking forward to your Geometry Wars scores too (you mean the follow up don't you, not the original?)

I played the original last night and was struck by how basic it looks compared to 2, and how after playing for what seemed like forever I only had 100k

[SeanMacGabhann]

Oh amen to that as well Keef

Nemesis/Gradius (esp 5) is fantastic but hard, whereas r-Type (which I finished back in the day) seems genuinely physically impossible after Level 3 now...

[bon3yard]

...it really is quite good, Honest. Although possibly a bit too mainstream for you titans of the Niche Gaming world. Dont just take my word for it though...

[EDKiwi]

Blimey even ol Yahtzee says it's good, might have to check it out sometime.....he does raise a good point in the credits tho, how do they signal batman if they need him during the day.....

[EDKiwi]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

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> Looking forward to your Geometry Wars scores too

> (you mean the follow up don't you, not the

> original?)

> I played the original last night and was struck by

> how basic it looks compared to 2, and how after

> playing for what seemed like forever I only had

> 100k

erm, yes I meant Geometry Wars 2, I only have the trail version and have only managed a measly score of 300,000 or thereabouts :-$

Dismal I know.

[bon3yard]

Blimey even ol Yahtzee says it's good, might have to check it out sometime.....he does raise a good point in the credits tho, how do they signal batman if they need him during the day.....

Er, Echo Location?

[mockney piers]

I saw it got 92 in metacritic, almost unheard of for this type of game.

I'll probably pick up a used copy in a couple of months when my current crop is done. Still have dead space to finish, the mighty arma 2 and about a million of sean's trials HD records to beat.