Time to take the fight to the streetz!

I just bought Odama based on your review, so the record is set straight.

Reviews that slated P.N.03:
e.g. "The fundamental problem is that you can't shoot and run at the same time" - wrong. That's the whole point of the game.
"there is no depth or substance to the game at all" - wrong. You just failed to notice any of it.
"The only challenge in the game is to see how long your thumb will last bashing the A button since that's pretty much all you'll be doing." - wrong. If you play it for more than 10 minutes, you can buy a suit with rapidfire.
"audio is also poor" - wrong. Audio is one of the games major features and without listening to the audio, you'll have a tough time playing it. See no depth bit above.
"Sound in P.N.03 is really not a big factor" - wrong. It's the biggest factor in playing the game properly.
"Replay? Don't even think about it." - wrong. I played it through again the instant I finished it.

The PN03 reviews baffled me, I had a great time with that game. I guess it came down to expectation, people seemed to want a Resident Evil run'n'gun game. Perhaps expectation is the problem with some of these Odama reviews too.

I'll have to dig up the Edge Band Brothers review, that is simply stunning. The review text makes it quite clear that the writer never made it past Beginner mode, which means they can't have played it for more than 30 mins...

You should here the perennial moaning from the supposed professional games journalists, harping on about not needing to finish the games they review. It's utterly pathetic really.

I here all they don't even have to spell properly anymoor.

Nice one Jib.

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"Anyone who's played Namco's Cyber Sled and wished, however remotely, for a home version will be the first to figure it out:... - Tim Rogers

\m/

Bad news Odama is another gem being completely misunderstood. I completely agree with all points regarding PN03, the game is a spin on the tried and tested audio-cue system used in Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe and it plays like an absolute dream. I've found this is unique to Capcom's action games where you have the audio adding an entire extra dimension to the way you play them, the audio cues are so perfectly locked to the action that you can put 100% trust into following them (infact "following" them soon becomes completely automatic) and that's the key to becoming Keanu Reeves at the game.

Without being able to actually see all the way around you there is no better system, using audio to keep the player clued up totally on everything that's happening even when it's not visible is genius.

Viewtiful Joe is another one where people miss the whole point of the game completely, now the series is a complete mockery of what it set out to be in the first place, the team have ripped the entire game out in the effort to try and make it "acceptable".

If it dont involve moving a camera with a gun attached to it it's completely beyond these people.

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The problem with Viewtiful Joe is that it isn't HD Ready.

Exactly! - I just stopped playing it one day and felt incredibly dirty!

The problem with most gamers/reviewers these days (especially those who slate Capcom's action games) is that their mum isnt HD Ready.
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Give me five minutes alone in a locked room with some AV cabling and I can make ANYONE'S Mum HD ready.

I really like games™ but, oooh momma, is it a flawed publication. Their review of the Special Edition of DMC3 tried to be a bit cute, a bit sly, but ended up a laughable mess. It effectively goes:

It's hilariously bad, it really is.

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How many sig images before you all start to moan? Let's see

BEST. ENDING. EV4R!!11 *weeps*

You should have to pass an exam to play as Dante - I didnt see any of them manz at the class.
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We need to have an Open Senses "gattai" sequence. Were we combine into an all powerful mecha and unleash our final attack on these middlecore journalist cock-ends.

--
"Your denial is beneath you and, thanks to the use of hallucinogenic drugs, I see through you." Bill Hicks (1961-1994)
http://cacophanus.net/

IIRC Super Mario Sunshine got a bizarre reaction from our friends in the "mainstream" media. I'm sure I'm half remembering this, but one magazine, named after a U2 member, had an entire review slating it, then concluded by remarking it as the 2nd best platformer ever made.

It cuts both ways though doesn't it. I mean how many times have you read a glowing review only to find out the game is a pile of shite.

Burnout3 has to be the prime candidate there. Universally heralded as the second coming of the arcade racer. Shame then that the gameplay was tissue thin.

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"Anyone who's played Namco's Cyber Sled and wished, however remotely, for a home version will be the first to figure it out:... - Tim Rogers

Wait? It had gameplay? I don't remember that!

God of War is another one I just dont understand what these people get out of it. It's system is fucking pathetic - but you can bang buttons and pretty things happen, which probably explains it.

All the industry awards it received aswell - I dont understand; (Gameplay achievement) WHERE??? I seriously want someone to show me cos I cant get anything beyond the linear shit the dev team have dictated at me going - a game like this should have at least some GIVE to the control so you can manipulate the character's moves etc - this has nothing whatsoever! I can get more out of just the 1st stage of Bujingai than I can out of this entire game, basic fresh off the boat Dante or Joe with no upgrades make this twat even when fully upgraded seem unbelievably basic!

The award it got for (Best Character Design) was just shocking!

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I've very aloofly ignored God of War, because something stank about it. One of my non-game playing friends had a go at it and said it looked cool, but all he did was wang the buttons continuously... instant gratification, low attention span.

Who are we to judge if this is a good game or not, who knows. Actually, we DO know, are I've decided WE are right.

There is some kinda gaming schism going on.

Never played it. Although I know others on here share that view. Interesting that you bring up Bujingai. It just didn't click with me. Not sure why, perhaps the system gives a little too much in terms of flexibility?

I used to love reading Ninja Gaiden reviews slating it cos it was to hard, reviewers these days are pussies...

Ninja Gaiden is just rubbish

I wasn't disputing it was rubbish, I was saying reviewers are pussies cos they marked it down for being to hard.

I remember the FHM review gave it a score of 1 because the reviewer couldn't get past the first level.

Impossible! - You can never have enough flex to the system, this is what keeps manz playing! That's why I love Capcom's action games so much, the system is so free in DMC3 for example that after a while once you've mastered it you can convey your own personality and imagination through your fighting - at no point should you be confined to set routines.

Bujingai is not as flexible as VJ or DMC3, it's VERY simple in execution but beautiful to play.....for the first stage, then it's like Gackt/Lau has been dumped into a game which does him no justice at all. The way you can attack and parry from the ground to the air and back down again seamlessly is amazing - but they just dont give you the opportunity to exploit this as you deserve!

There were two layers to Ninja Gaiden reviews:

1. Too hard... must be rubbish
2. Too hard... must be great

Arguably 1 is closer to the final result but for the wrong reasons.

I can't even begin to comment because I've never, NEVER played DMC3

My eyes are still covered with thick scales it seems...

Oh Madbury....*sigh*

I cant put into words how fucking amazing that game is. Every bit of enjoyment I get from this game is purely from the control of Dante, there isnt a single situation you cant manipulate to make it go 100% your way, the way you use sound to time parries, counter-attacks and evades draws me into it even more. They just dont make em like this anymore, this game doesnt get even a fraction of the attention and acclaim it deserves - DMC3 is an anomaly!

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I know, I know. I'm a bad person.

But I'm not afraid to hold my hands up. I'd never be able to write a review for DMC3 (not one that I'd be proud of anyway) because deep down I'd know there are people out there who know Dante inside and out. That shouldn't stop me from buying it and loving it in my own limited way though.

The nub of the problem is I don't have enough time to play the games I've already got. Take this evening for example. Will I be inside working my way through ShenmueII or the last half of ICO that I've still to finish. Hell no. I'm going to be 20ft up a ladder scraping shit out of my gutters because the fucking things have got their own ecosystem they've been left for so long.

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"Anyone who's played Namco's Cyber Sled and wished, however remotely, for a home version will be the first to figure it out:... - Tim Rogers

I wonder what you'd make of the Street Fighter III reviews by Edge?

I was extremely interested because this is really the first time i've sat down and got into a game so completely after the golden school years!

I've yet to form a response myself but i'm biding my time until after final exams and thus can make a proper go of it.

I think what i'd like to achieve is to see the game get a Time Extend, as i think the Tony Mott run Edge to be the best chance of seeing it and there's enough evidence to back it. It's popularity has risen amazingly so, to the point where a UK and Oz team entered the Super Battle Opera tournament this year! I can count a fair few people who purposfully bought an xbox jsut for SFAC based solely on SFIII threads on rllmuk, edge-online and even GHZ. AND or those people to enjoy it thoroughly.

I honestly feel the need to blag this game to as many as will listen >_<

----------------------------
Alan Moore - i worship thee!

Blud the way the foreign teams got pwned on 3rd Strike at SBO was of biblical proportions, I'm hearing stories about how they didnt win a single round. I big them manz up for trying - but you cant possibly attain the level of play required as we just dont have that kind of gaming vibe or level of competition in the west.

It's ALL about spending a couple of days on each game, seeing the end credits then moving onto the next generic FPS - that's what gaming is here now, and it's totally alien to what the scene is like in Japan. You cant even rely on arcades to buy their own software and make sure it's presented properly - these lot down here have been trying to get VF Final Tuned installed for fuck knows how long now all off their own backs - this shouldnt ever be the case, it's not the customers who should be responsible for everything from buying games to promoting them!

I blame the parents...no kid of mine would be allowed to go out in public without being able to perform 116P+K, PGPG, K+G(K-1frame) at a whim.

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Tis true you only have to look at the coin operated video game listings on ebay to know that something is smelly. Rotten smelly. Sure there's the usual listings of very old hardware, but there's also a healthy market in the brand spanking new too. It seems that most people are resigned to the fact that the only way they're going to even be able to play these games is in their own homes. A situation which is about a million fucking miles away from ideal.

What I just don't understand though is there is clearly a market for the new games. It's just so ripe for a small entrepreneur with some capital to clean up. I'm not talking funland/segaworld size, I'm talking maybe 20 vs cabs with the latest kit in a nice clean, well lit, well maintained convenient London location, with regular competition ranking battles and refreshments on tap.

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"Anyone who's played Namco's Cyber Sled and wished, however remotely, for a home version will be the first to figure it out:... - Tim Rogers

Blud all of us know that it really is not difficult at all to make money out of gaming. The problem is that in the case of the UK arcade......scene (if you could call it that) is that all the same dead weight that have been running things since day one are STILL running things. These old fatfucks have no idea what gaming is now and have even less of an idea of how to present it to the customer and what the customers want from a game centre (nor will they listen if you attempt to talk to them).

I agree - if I had even a small location in central London with about 15 cabs I'd absolutely rake it in and the entire arcade gaming community in this area would be my customers and mine alone.

The most amazing thing about the London crew is that even though we have absolutely fuck all going on; in the rare occurance that something is going down - you see EVERYONE! All the people from Namco Wonderpark suddenly reappear and you realise how big the audience is and it's shocking that nobody will cater to it.
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Several people have tried to launch an arcade like this in Britain though, all have gone tits up (or not even made past the planning stages). There is a market though but you'd need absolutely in the indsutry, or at least those that dealt with the arcade, to be gaming legends. In Japan, that's not a problem. Over here? Chav fucking city.

Needs a membership system, pure and simple.

If it was in central London I cant see Chav City happening - Wonderpark was so overrun with proper gamers that the knobs that pollute places like Funland didnt venture in, plus the sort of games on offer would assure that nobody of that nature would see anything of interest anyway. If it was all guns and steering wheels, it would definetly be Chav City - but faced with nothing but VS cabs with proper sticks and buttons they wont know what the fuck they're looking at.

Only problem in Wonderpark was the Triad cunts. All it would take is for someone with the capital to get a venue, bypass the UK distributors and get import a bunch of decent cabs and games and operate independantly - he'd cane it.
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That's the killer though, you'd need someone with "decent capital". Any kind of investor in Britain is utterly clueless about gaming, let alone arcades. You'd really need a shitload of cash to get it running though, the cabs alone would be an absolutely huge cost (if you imported them straigh from Japan, which you would have to in order to circumvent the UK distributors).

The only feasible way around this, unless of course you know a gaming legend in the UK with 10 million quid burning a hole in his pocket, is to get Japanese investors and flesh out a prototype import arcade. I'd doubt they'd ever go with it though, they don't really care/understand about foreign arcade markets.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=64369

That's just a fucking joke of a review, he didn't even find the controls selection!

You may have to modify the cabs too to make them compliant with UK H&S laws relating to electrical appliance safety. Then again you might not. I don't think importing a container load of vs city cabs is prohibitively expensive to be honest. Sourcing a reliable supplier of boards/games will be more difficult.

If you were starting out you might want to have only a couple of vs city units and stock the rest with Astros and the like. The vs city cabs (only ever seen one in Bangkok airport) are nice, but they are bigger and heavier. If they proved to be really popular then you could trade up over time.

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"Anyone who's played Namco's Cyber Sled and wished, however remotely, for a home version will be the first to figure it out:... - Tim Rogers

Oh dear. I read the first paragraph and then couldn't go on. He fucking admits he knows nothing about the game in the opening.

Here was my comment:

Would the answer to your chav problems, just say to the arcade delivery man/women:

"Err nah thanks mate, I dont want that time crisis or any other light gun cab"
"Whats that? a DDR title, nah we dont do those here"

DDR doent make any money anymore and takes up far too much space as do all those other dedicated cabs (guns, driving etc). Some of the old crew from this area have got together with Andamiro for a sort of revival for Pump It Up with the winners of the tournaments here getting the chance to compete in Korea but there's f-all interest and with no support from the shit arcades here it's all rubbish (plus the Korean players would pwn everyone so bad the footage would have to be heavily censored!).

In central London someone could easily rake it in with an arcade that shuns dedicated cabs in favour of VS cabs, it'll keep the dickheads out - especially if when you want to get on VF or 3rd Strike you have to challenge and win a match first! Stick a few good shoot em ups like Ronde, Psyvariar 2 and Shikigami no Shiro in aswell - this shit is like Kryptonite to Joe Public! XD
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Unless you've got a few hundred of these lying about...

...it would never get off the ground. Like I said, British investors have no clue about this kind of market and the Japanese ones don't really care.

Odama is already £20 new at Gamestation

e-bay speculators are lined up around the block.

Damn shame - sometimes the level of ignorance is useful though; I got my Panzer Dragoon Saga from one of them places for £20 brand new when it first came out! XD

Reading the papers this morning was sickening, seems like they've already written the Wii off as not as superior as the PS3 with a controller that's just like the PS3 one - the writeup in today's Metro was shocking in it's inaccuracy. The press really cause damage to the gaming medium.
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Where did you get your US copy from?

The US one isnt mine - it's Oli's (other Oli)

That PAL copy was - I lent it to this complete cunt I knew who gave it back to me like 6 months later without it's outer sleeve. I was too fucking lenient with people back then, if it was now he'd be drinking his meals through a straw.

(sorry I misread - I got Panzer Dragoon fever these days! XD)

PS - new Mario site is up -
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/a2dj/index.html
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Other Oli's? You have a PAL copy of Odama?

I saw the Metro thing covering the Wii, they made out that it was an update to a console already out (as in the Revolution). It makes me die inside when I realise that chumps like that are paid money to write utter crap.

US version I got from playasia strangely enough.

For £20 I now have a PAL copy too.

Saur was talking about PDS

Picked up Sonic Riders Xbox today, see how it compares to the Cube.

I thought it was just me being thick and not reading it right - they really did say that ennit! O_o

I agree it's insane that people get paid to write that garbage, Sony really know their idiot manipulation though - I have to give them credit for sticking the motion sensors into the Dual Shock 3, now THAT'S officially the original motion detecting controller and the Nintendo design is the cheap copy and that bullshit will get spread about for them for free.

I'd take the Dual Shock rumble over tilt sensors any day, but what do I know. The Wii controller has rumble intact ennit, I just noticed it's got a fucking SPEAKER on it too! That's mint!