xhonzi

As a Thrawn/Zahn fan- I won't stop enjoying that series if it is declared to be non-canon.  If the movies directly contradict them, I don't think I will enjoy the Thrawn stuff any less.

But if the movies directly confirm any of it (Luke's married to a smoking hot red-head who totally isn't Jean Grey or Mary Jane)... then I'd have to say that I would be pretty happy with that.

From what we've heard, Luke's son is going to be named Ben, right?  I'm pretty sure in the EU that he had a son named Ben.  It seems silly to name the kid Ben, and then otherwise completely contradict the EU. 

"Ben" says to that they're tyring to go in EU-agnostic.  If you know his name is Ben from the EU, good for you, it's just like the EU.  If you don't, then you probably don't know or care.  Good for you too.  Everyvbody wins. 

You know, except for places where it keeps them from telling the story they want to tell.  Like the death of any major characters or whatever.

Ryan McAvoy said:

xhonzi said:

Are you familiar with E.Y.E. Divince Cybermancy?  Supposed to be like (the original) Deus Ex.  I have some extra Steam copies.  I haven't played that one either, but it looks like it has a bit of a learning curve.

 No not familiar with that one, the original Deus Ex or the other sequel. I could never get past the fiddely interface and outdated graphics of Deus Ex1 when I tried it back in the day despite it's strong reviews (So I'm only going to be less impressed if I tried it again).

I've got a Steam account because you got AvP2000 free one time but other than that and a few other older titles I don't game on my PC anymore (Not got the specs). I was a loyal PC user and builder until the belated release of GTA4, which when it finally did show up wouldn't run properly despite my PC at the time being top of the range. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle constantly updating an expensive gaming PC anymore, so I switched to a handy laptop and a console. Been very happy with my PS3 and Vaio ever since.

Yeah, that sounds a lot like the reason I converted to console in ~2001.  But I'm back to PC now.  Pretty happy with that decision.

I haven't played Human Revolution yet, but I'd be surprised if it was as deep as Deus Ex 1.  They just don't make games like that anymore.  Deep's probably not the right word... but even with Bioshock Infinite's 1999 mode, it's still not nearly as 1999y and 1999 games were.  Deus Ex 1 is very 1999y.  I am excited to play HR, but don't expect it to be as 1999y as Deus Ex 1.

Check out some youtube videos of E.Y.E. sometime and see what you think.  It's apparently so 1999y that it's 1998y.

According to that thread, nothing is a McMuffin.

SilverWook said:

Mos Eisely is a spaceport. Anchorhead was doughnut center, (what a hole)

Consider this your first warning.

LexX said:

I think some may forget that we are talking about planets here. Tatooine could be bigger than Jupiter all we know. It can have millions or even billions of towns small and large.

You're confusing Star Wars planets with actual planets.  Star Wars planets have one or two major cities on them, have only one climate, and are within spitting distance of each other. 

Actual planets would ruin the ability to tell fun space opera stories, methinks.

Ryan McAvoy said:

 If you've not played Dues Ex:HR yet I'd STRONGLY reccomend getting the Director's cut.

Most reviews and my view too are that the original version of Dues Ex was a near masterpiece but the boss battles are absolute cr*p.

Well, it was on sale this weekend, so I upgraded my copy to DC for $3.  Hmm... now I just need time to play it.

Also being familiar with the title, I can see how the new second-screen feature would integrate beautifully. I can just picture hacking my way past all the security on an ingame computer console (Which you will do hundreds of times) using my iPhone.

 They're apparently still figuring that part out for the PC.  I'd like to play it that way- so hopefully it will work by the time I get around to playing it.

xhonzi said:

Are you familiar with E.Y.E. Divince Cybermancy?  Supposed to be like (the original) Deus Ex.  I have some extra Steam copies.  I haven't played that one either, but it looks like it has a bit of a learning curve.

And?

:(

DuracellEnergizer said:

xhonzi said:

Both written by KJA?

 But Empire's End was written by Tom Veitch.

Hmm... it seems you're right.  KJA started taking over all of Veitch's stuff around then... I wonder if he ghost wrote Empire's End.  It has that KJA smell all over it.

AntcuFaalb said:

IMO, the prequels could never have been great with the choice to focus on the backstory of Darth Vader.

Honestly, who thought "Huh... I'd like to see what he was like as a little boy!" after hearing "Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans, and bring me the passengers. I want them alive!"?

Even post-"I am your father!" and post-redemption, who honestly gave a shit about how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader?

There were many other story possibilites for the PT. The Fall of Anakin Skywalker/Rise of Darth Vader should have been left for a cheap EU paperback novel you'd find in a drug store.

I think that the story of a good man, who becomes a terrible villain, and then is redeemed through a love for his son, is a great story to tell. 

In the OT, we had the last half of it. 

In a timeline with a good PT, we could have had the first half of it.  With the PT that exists in this timeline, it's worse than not having it.  I think the PT was a flawed execution much more than a flawed premise.

Ryan McAvoy said:

As I said a bit earlier 'Dues Ex: Human Revolution' on the PS3 is maaahh favourite game. But I was looking at video of and reading reviews of the recent 'Director's Cut' version and was wondering if it was worth an upgrade.

It's another £19.99 on PSN on top of what I've already spent on the game which seems very steep for a glorified patch.

Has anybody upgraded and thought it was worth the money?

 I am trying to make that same decision.  On PC, you can upgrade the regular cut + DLC to the DC for $5.  I think I paid $6 for the game (haven't played ityet), so $5 for a 'glorified patch' seems steep.  But if I'm going to play it for 40+ hours, another $5 to make the experience better seems worth it.

Are you familiar with E.Y.E. Divince Cybermancy?  Supposed to be like (the original) Deus Ex.  I have some extra Steam copies.  I haven't played that one either, but it looks like it has a bit of a learning curve.

Oh, the load times!

Shut up, Bingo- you signed the NDA!

Both written by KJA?

So, I'm back to hawk my wares again-

I'm selling a Steam copy of Borderlands 2 GotY edition for a friend.  She wants $30, but I talked her down to $29. 

I'm also selling my extra Steam copy of Morrowind that I ended up with since I bought the Anthology set and it came with Morrowind.  It's GotY edition as well, and I'm asking $5.

Anyone interested?

Bingowings said:

TPM prompted a rage in me I would not feel again until Prometheus.

The other two were worse films but I knew what to expect by then.

 Isn't Prometheus also the first of new prequel trilogy to a well loved 20th Century Fox movie series?

It could work.  It plays better in your synopsis than I thought it would given your summary earlier.

doubleofive said:

OBI-WAN37 said:

No, I just don't see it. I don't know why so many of the original-trilogy-fans tend to hate the prequels. I guess it's just a cultural phenomena. I love the prequels.

Son, you came to the wrong place.

Reality?*

Tyrphanax said:

Agh damn. Guess I should have looked a bit harder before posting.

 Without you posting it in a new thread, I would have never seen it.

OBI-WAN37 said:

xhonzi said:

OBI-WAN37 said:

I mean, you can't deny that the awesomeness of the action in the prequel trilogy was far greater than the awesomeness of the action in the original trilogy..

"A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing."

-George Lucas

 

 But I already said, the story for the Phantom menace was great, the story for Attack of the Clones was good enough, the story for revenge of the sith was fantastic, and the story when you look at the trilogy as a complete single movie was amazing.

Oh, you already said.  Well then, it's settled, isn't it?  Maybe we should put it up for a vote.   

The plots to the PT films are okay.  Probably 'decent enough' but the story is oh so horrid.  The story is weakly told, weakly acted, weakly presented.  It has no gravitas, no verisimillitude, no swashbuckle.  It's insipid, infantile and dull.  All of these factors lead to low emotional impact, which really causes the action scenes to suffer. 

Two characters having a silent argument is more interesting than a laser sword battle on a spaceship orbiting a black hole in a galaxy far far away if you care about the disagreeing characters, and have no connection to the sword fighters.

You said that no one can deny the awesomeness of the action in the PT.  I easily deny it.  Far from awesome, I find most of it to be stupid.  It's so much flash and so little substance, that I can't be bothered to care about it.

tl;dr- Buzz droids.  I rest my case.

doubleofive said:

I'm going to focus on exclusives, but multi-platform games I might have missed (of which Bioshock is not one) can also be suggested.

 Hmm... I just don't know.

Ryan McAvoy said:

xhonzi said:

005 said:

I guess I'm going to work my way through some PS3 exclusives shortly.

Then he said:

[I just picked up a bunch of games, but very few of them are exclusives]!

 

Then you said:

[Oh, man.  Here are my favourite PS3 games.  (No exclusives)]

None of those are even exclusives! 

 

 I never said they were???

You didn't.  But 005's stated goal of playing PS3 exclusives seemed to evapourate from the conversation very quickly.

doubleofive said:

xhonzi said:
Are you telling me you've never played Bioshock?  I feel an IGNORE coming on.

I can neither confirm nor deny this.

IGNO...  Hmm... I'll need more evidence to conduct this investigation.  Good thing we are (were?) 360 and Steam buddies.  And now I know your PSN handle... this should be pretty easy.

 

I liked the Tron game, but you have to be really into Tron, I think, to come away with that experience.  The online play is fun- try it for at least an hour if you do nothing else.

I honestly won't even put this in my system.

I SAID:

xhonzi said:

try it for at least an hour if you do nothing else.

Do it or else.

OBI-WAN37 said:

I mean, you can't deny that the awesomeness of the action in the prequel trilogy was far greater than the awesomeness of the action in the original trilogy..

"A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing."

-George Lucas

doubleofive said:

I've had the PS3 for one day, I already am in possession of the following:

Owned:
Last of Us
BEYOND: Two Souls
Batman Arkham Origins
Best of PSN, Vol 1

Borrowing:
Skyrim
Tron Evolution
LEGO Star Wars Complete
Bioshock
Arkham Asylum
God of War 3
Uncharted: Drakes Fortune

I asked my friend if his (7 year old) son had any games he wasn't playing he'd think I'd like, so that's what I'm borrowing.

I haven't played any of them and I'm already overwhelmed. Did get to set up my PSN ID, which thankfully is doubleofive since it wasn't taken.

An odd mix on non-exclusives there, 005.  Are you telling me you've never played Bioshock?  I feel an IGNORE coming on.

I liked the Tron game, but you have to be really into Tron, I think, to come away with that experience.  The online play is fun- try it for at least an hour if you do nothing else.

I already made my comments on Uncharted.  Keep the hype in check and I think you will enjoy it. 

Let me know what you think of Beyond Two Souls.  I played Indigo Prophecy and that game was really weird.  I didn't play Heavy Rain, but it looked really weird.  I have to imagine that BTS is their weirdest yet.

Did the 7 year old have Bioshock, Uncharted and Skyrim?  I don't usually tell other people how to parent their kids, but that's messed up.

Also, I bought one of the "looks like a 360 controller" controllers and was very happy with the purchase.  I do most of my PS3 gaming with it.  I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ISZB2O/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Downsides- wireless receiver dongle.  Also, it must have a teensy bit more lag because I had a really, really had time beating the last bosses of God of War 1 and 2 with it.  When I switched to the DS3, I just had a really hard time. :)

OBI-WAN37 said:

Fourthly, the original trilogy wouldn't mean nearly as much to me if the prequel trilogy didn't exist. ... but overall as one big, single movie the original trilogy just wasn't as good as the overall story of the prequels was as a single movie....

The PT is like a cancer on the body of Star Wars.  The only way to save the OT is to remove the PT and then maybe it will survive.

The Prequels coming out was almost enough to make me think I just hated Star Wars.  The re-edits of the OT, and the current batch of EU books and comics just about sealed the deal.  It was getting my hands on theatrical preservations, despecialized editions and Star Wars Revisited that reminded me how much Star Wars there was to love.

Humby said:

Joe Johnston directing worries me.  He is incredibly average.  Jurassic Park 3, Captain America, Jumanji, the Wolfman... all average films at best.  Even the Rocketeer, despite its cult following, is relatively average.  October Sky is hands down his best film.

Captain America remains my favourite Marvel movie.  With Avengers a very close second.

And the Rocketeer still holds up after all of these years.  We were very excited to get that on BD finally, but we might be part of that cult you mentioned.

Ryan McAvoy said:

The original 'Arkham Asylum' is the best of that bunch ^ IMO. But my favourite titles on the PS3 (Excluding AA) have been (In order):

1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (By a huge margin. Characters you care for, complex story, action, stealth, gorgeous design, it has it all)

2. Red Dead Redemption (GTA on horses. A vast world in meticulous detail)

3. Tomb Raider 2013 (Emotional stuff. Puzzles and stealth in a semi-sandbox. Becoming a crackshot with the bow is just magic)

4. Fallout: New Vegas (You could almost live in this game it's so frickin' massive and involving)

5. Wolfenstein 2009 (Big guns and evil Nazis to kill. It's pure action FPS fun)

Also Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection is a great way to get an instant and large collection of oldskool classics for very little. Plus the triple-bundle 'HD Collections' (Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider etc) are cost effective packages.

Honourable mention for 'Max Payne 3'. It's by a long way the hardest game I've ever played. It starts off near impossible but becomes more playable later on, after much practice. If you can get past the initial painful difficulty spike, it gets very good indeed.

None of those are even exclusives! 

Little Big Planet is a decent exclusive.  I never got the second one.

Uncharted games are pretty good.  As a former Xbox exclusive gamer, these games were oft used to tell me how much better PS3 is than 360.  Once I got a PS3, the first two Uncharted games were thrust upon me and I enjoyed them, but didn't think they were worth all of the hype.  Had they not been PS3 exclusives, they would be less loved, I think.

I rented Last of Us and played the first 10 hours or so.  Again, either I'm not in synch with Naughty Dog the way everyone else is, or I don't fall in love with the PS3 exclusives the way everyone else does.  After 10 hours, I felt I had seen what it had on offer.  I was ready for something else.

You probably already know if God of War is your thing.  I liked the first two games and had a harder time getting into the 3rd one.  The PS2 games are more simple by comparison, so it made the GoW3 seem really cluttered with too much detail by the time I got around to it.

I bought Resistance because I had heard how good it was.  I played maybe an hour of it.

I liked inFamous.  I never got around to the second one, but I liked the first one quite a bit.

I played a demo of Killzone 3.  It seemed pretty good.  I've meant to pick it up, but have never made it a priority.

I've never gotten into the Ratchet and Clank games, but those seem to be well thought of.