SimonM7

I think the problem with GTA4 is that no component of it is fun to play. I guess the driving is alright, but that's it.  The shooting, even when borrowing so heavily from Gears/Uncharted is still abysmal, and that's what you're tasked with doing so incredibly often in that game. Niko's controls are animation over response, and the cover system is a joke.
 
I think the rest of your analysis is admirable, but it's perhaps a bit superfluous when the core game is so flawed that's really all the excuse you need to give up on it.
 
To all those who played and enjoyed it, all the more power to you. You're clearly willing to look past the glaring flaws of it as a game and enjoy it as an experience. I wish I could too.

I think after 155 episodes chronicling 100 hours of recorded playtime, if you need a review to tell you what they think of it.. you're maybe a bit slow.

Yeah it's an emulation problem that has been there from the start on the 360. It's weird that they haven't fixed it, but I guess it caters mostly to the ones that play the multiplayer still seeing as the mp mode doesn't suffer from those issues.
 
In the grand scheme of things they've basically borked any chance for post Xbox 1 gamers to play a fully functional version of the entire trilogy. I suppose remasters ala God of War 1 and 2 on the PS3 is somthing one can cross fingers for, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

It should be noted also that there's no way they'll redraw Muramasa for PS3/360, so the sprites would no doubt remain the same. That said, I don't agree that it's of no significance to the Wii platform if these end up on the other systems, because by and large, Marvellous are to thank for quite a few games that supposedly appeal to the "hardcore gamer" (god I hate that whole terminology) and it's not hard to imagine some people considering the Wii for Suda's title alone.
 
So yeah, I see it as unfortunate if these "leak" to other systems because they pretty much embody the principle of cheap, niche games being a perfect fit for it, and if games can't actually stick around long enough - exclusively for it - to have people percieve it as such it will never fully realise that potential.
 
There's absolutely something to be said about more people getting to play a game - lord knows in the capacity of pretty much an anti-PC gamer (because of all the specs bullshit that entails) I love it when things like Braid and Toribash make the jump to consoles - but on the flipside a console should have its fair share of titles that justify it and guide the presence of other games on it. No More Heroes paved way for Madworld, make no mistake, and if NMH blew up all over I don't think the Wii would've been the destination for Platinum Games' effort.

I gotta admit Burnout games kinda started ringing in my ears with, and after, Burnout Takedown. Burnout combos with their addictive arcadey multipliers and score system was wonderfully satisfying to me, and to have that ripped away and replaced with Mario Kart style takedown stupidity had me fairly enraged. No longer was the ability to avoid crashing as played up as boost would almost immediately refill, nor was clean, daring racing in any way encouraged, with obliterating competitors giving the biggest boost.. er.. boost of all.
 
So yeah, I zoned out a bit, and the MTV top 10 music listing certainly didn't help me pay attention either. I still gave each entry due time to present its case and I did find Revenge's core racing more rewarding and less frustrating than Takedown's simply because you could check traffic which made the speed increase slightly less unforgiving, aswell as the Revenge system that actually lended the chaos some reason and strategy. Even then, the progression system for the career mode itself in Burnout Revenge was borked beyond repair, and forcing the now bloated crash mode down your throat to even proceed was even more insulting to someone who still mainly got a racing game to.. you know.. race.
 
So when Burnout Paradise came out in a climate where open world seemed like the most canned thing you could possibly do - and with EA already applying that to their Need For Speed: Most Wanted - it just seemed like Criterion were more confused and hopelessly lost as to what to do with the franchise than ever. I played the demo briefly - and in retrospect it really isn't the kind of game that demos well - and I pretty much dismissed it outright.
 
Enter bargain bins a year and a half later though and it was difficult to not just grab it already, along with Pure and Samba de Amigo, incidentally. It sat on my shelf for yonks but eventually I was running out of low investment games to play in the run up to SEPTEMBER OF EFFING DOOM, and Burnout Paradise kind of became a viable choice. I popped it in and here I am pretty much loving the damn thing.
 
 
It's really not Burnout 2 anymore, I wager it never will be - with Dominator being the closest to it and mostly just proving that nah, it's never going to be - but it's something new, something else, something that for me gels for the first time because it marries ideas from all over the course of Burnout history in a surprisingly successful way. The Burnout combos are back from 2, the Boost system from Burnout 1 and 2 is implemented in the "speed" boost type cars, there are remixes of old Burnout music, the intersections and different areas of the city are more reasonably laid out and more reminicent of 2 than the absolutely rediculously crowded streets and evil sharp, narrow corners of Takedown. It flows incredibly well, allowing for your own personal pace and preference in what you wanna do in what order, and it shoves the crash mode back into being a neat fun distraction - the way it should be.
 
So yeah, I'm really loving Paradise, and if you can identify with my reluctance to play anything following Burnout 2, I suggest you pick it up cheap and give it an honest chance because while it's not all of what you used to love, it borrows elements of old, blends them with far greater success than either Takedown or Revenge, and becomes something confidently new and great in its own right.

It comes down to what type of person you are I reckon. As a straight up platformer it's pretty weak. If you want carefully timed jumps, a nice learning curve and a good challenge, it's pretty broken on all of those accounts. The platforming is floaty and imprecise, the checkpoint system is hopelessly flawed leading to nothing but frustration and difficulty spikes when it does get a little bit trickier, and ultimately because of its checkpoint system it never dares to challenge you to any particular degree.
 
So as a normal typical game it's useless pretty much, save for the inherent charm in the Sackboys and the world and the sometimes ingenious visual solutions like the car level or the big wheel in the later part of the game. However, where it does take off is in the creativity, in the sheer delight of working out how to get around its deliberate confinements and restrictions to create some really awe inspiring contraptions and levels. That, and checking out what kind of brilliant things others have come up with.
 
Sadly the level creation drowned in a bajillion tribute levels, and due to the nature of "brand recognition" and its system for searching for levels those were the only ones people played, creating a vicious cycle of those being the most Hearted levels and subsequently FURTHER the most played.
 
So basically it comes down to what you want from it. It's still a brilliant toolbox with just the right amount of restrictions to.. er.. mother invention, and the ability to share your own - aswell as experience other people's - creations. As such, it is amazing, awe-inspiring, inarguably incredible.. until you put it in front of someone who really wants it to just be a normal platformer.
 
As for the metacritic thing, that's just fanboy legions trying theit best to change the fact that LBP is amazing, the same way similar legions will with Halo or Gears or Zelda or any other widely acclaimed title.

I think there are a couple of things that factor into this whole argument.
 
I think I pretty much "get" the angle of just about everyone who has posted in this thread, tactless as some may have been, eloquent as others, and I think they're all valid points.
 
However I think the shift that has taken place is not so much about gamers in generalising terms having changed, it's just that the group of people that used to play games gravitated towards them for a different reason than what attracts the larger audience today. There is, if you will, a sense that older gamers were drawn to the gameplay and gameyness because the conditions for narrative, or even for a lot of visual intensity simply wasn't there. I saw a trailer for Arkham Asylum when I went to see District 9 last monday, and it made no mention of actual gameplay mechanics of course, it just played up the situation Batman is in, the drama and the conflict.
 
So yeah, there is a divide between the Tetrises and the Heavy Rains, and the audience that responds to them, but as a number of people have noted already one hasn't replaced the other. Sure, trends dictate what we see more of, and the trend is definitely swinging away from the more "mechanical" games towards those with more flash and drama, simply because that's where the bigger audience lies, but gaming has become big enough to support both spectrums. There are the Braids and the World of Goos, the Trines and Shadow Complexes, and you know this because in the capacity of the type of gamer you are you know where to look. There is still the niche games and being part of that niche audience, it's just that the gaming industry, including sites and communities haven't really adapted to accomodate for different gaming styles yet. It's a shock to the system for some that Wii Sports Resort is loved, there's even the immediate reaction to somehow belittle those that enjoy a type of game that seems "alien" to the majority of a community. These are all signs that there is no one "gamer" anymore, there are games that simply aren't meant for *you*.
 
It's confusing and frustrating to find that you are part of a community or surround yourself with gamers that aren't like you or don't enjoy the games you do, but the good news is they exist - just elsewhere. Have a look around and you'll surely find the type of people you can identify with, who appreciate what you appreciate. It's become harder because it's not just about spotting the "fellow gamer" anymore, but it's also inspiring that gaming has become sophisticated enough to even create that "issue". :)

Always having been a pretty well informed gamer, there's really only the one instance of wtf-ness I remember. Ending of Shenmue 1. Trailers FOR Shenmue 1 were pretty much 60% Shenmue 2, unbeknownst to me, so I expected about a bajillion times more content.

Lu on Bu, mate!