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smokemare

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smokemare

329

Forum Posts

586

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#1  Edited By smokemare

Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum 48k, I think it was Christmas 1982... I was only about 5, and it took me ages to get past the 'Central Cavern' but I was hooked. It was a brilliant game then, and is a brilliant game now - and was also one of the first games to feature background music, certainly it was the first on the spectrum. The way it was done was the processor switched from playing the game to the music every cycle - which is why you got that wierd warbly effect on the music.

You'd never believe such a thing was ever a problem given the power of todays machines.

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smokemare

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#2  Edited By smokemare

Any series that gets to a number 3 will always have some critics call it dated or a synical attempt to milk the public for more cash - in some cases it's true... I haven't played Uncharted though.

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smokemare

329

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#3  Edited By smokemare

Welcome to the nest of vipers that is Giantbomb - the most synical gaming community on the web. Have fun and enjoy your stay.

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smokemare

329

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586

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Reviews: 11

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#4  Edited By smokemare

After taking a long weekend in Rome, I felt inspired - and I fired up Rome : Total War again - I've been playnig the single player campaign off and on for several years now, it's such a long, long game to play but it really is brilliant! No other strategy game seems to have the depth and realism of Total War, and Rome is a great title in the series. I might even actually beat it this year! I took Rome last night, and need only 14 territories over the next hundred years to win the game -

I also had a quick bash on scavenger mode Left 4 Dead 2, on No Mercy - all I can say is, there's a reason No Mercy is a popular scavenger map - the reason is it's brilliant for scavenge and can make for some of the most exciting scavenge matches you can imagine.

Still no further with Expert Realism, I can get through the first part of most campaigns solo now - but I still think you need an excellent team and good communication to clear a full campaign.

Read more detail on my main blog : - http://gamescomputergames.blogspot.com/2011/09/rome-total-war-more-left-4-dead-2.html

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smokemare

329

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#5  Edited By smokemare

I've written a short guide on how to get through the first part of 'Dark Carnival' on Expert Realism in my Games Computer Games blog.

Rather than re-create the entire thing here I'll summarize:-

1. You can get through Normal and Lower difficulties with little effort - but you need good tactics as well as being a good player to get through on Expert Realism.

2. You need to have places in mind where you should hole up, and stand your ground during hoard attacks, finding them when playing an easier difficulty level where you probably don't need them is probably easier than trying to find them when you're being pounded into the ground by infected and the only need 5 hits to kill you...

3. Know the levels, know the best route! It's possible to get to the Motel in Dark Carnival without going under the under-pass, and it's much easier.

More details are on the main blog.

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smokemare

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#6  Edited By smokemare

Again the lengthy version of my musings is on me games computer games blog.

I've been finding my enjoyment again, and it's not been by buying some latest greatest new title - it's been by digging through my collection and knocking dust off something old before firing it up. Namely Left 4 Dead 2, it's got some really fun multi player games and it's overall an incredibly polished product. The production isn't what makes it though - it's the design of the game mechanics. The whole concept was built around the focus of 'co-operative fun' and that shines though when you play it.

I ought to fire up LA Noire some time too, it's been sitting on the shelf since June, having hardly scratched the surface of it... Partly because I think I'm genuinely rubbish at it - all the questioning people and identifying clues and stuf... Well, maybe I'll get better at it once I've played a bit longer...

It's good to be back, and it's actually nice to have a sort of 'gaming focus' namely the Left 4 Dead 2 Scavenger Mode and Expert Realism...

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smokemare

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#7  Edited By smokemare
Info PR: 0 I: 5,690,000 L: 2 LD: 1,512,780 I: 424,000 Rank: 4964 Age: March 9, 2008 I: 0 whoissourceRobo: yesSitemap: yes Rank: 2616 Price: 36949 Links: 79(6)|53(20)Density
To keep it short and sweet, I'm moving my lengthy blog posts to my gaming computer gaming blog mainly so I don't get complained at for writing long posts here.
 
I'll still post on this blog - but only short summaries, to prevent the complaints about too much to read.
 
Basically I've finally manged to find some enjoyment in gaming again, I've found it in an unusual place - in the form of Left 4 Dead 2.  Which is brilliant.  A really amazing game.
 
Anyway this got me to comparing how people play games to how people play sports.  We all tend to play a game for a week or two, or six months - then move on to the latest and greatest... In sport you tend to try a few sports, find your favourite and then stick at it - building practice into your routine.  That got me wondering what it would be like to allocate a set time to playing a game in the way that you would to playing a sport.
 
So my short term project is to treat Friday nights as Left 4 Dead 2 versus mode practice night.
 
I'll be reporting on the experience and my comparisons to trying to play a sport on regular basis here in summary and on my blogspot blog in lengthy detail.
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smokemare

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#8  Edited By smokemare

"Not to be a stickler for accuracy, but isn't it supposed to be Shadow the Hedgehog?"
 
You are right of course, but my little girl has historically always called 'Sonic the Hedgehog', 'Hedgehog the Fox' I find it sort of amusing so I don't always correct her.  It sort of makes sense for her to call him Shadow the Fox :P
 
I should have expected a game like DNF, which was an awful experience to play to be an equally awful experience to trade in.  I'm just glad it's out of my life, I think I know what will reignite my love gaming too, what? A good late nighter on Left 4 Dead 2 online... Yeah, the community sucks and you have to play a long time to get a decent group together - but at least when it's good, it's VERY good... I never get bored of Left 4 Dead, I loved the first one too.   I just wish I didn't always seem to land in games with griefers, numpties or general idiots... Not Valve's fault but meh!
 
An I am going to play through the Sonic game I think - as for my little girl, she played Forza 3 last night, but her toddler'esque sense of direction meant playing meant purposefully ramming the walls and getting upset saying 'I'm not a good driver!' poor thing... She's getting better at Diner Dash, a really token XBOX live game I picked up months ago... And there's nothing scary in that so...

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smokemare

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#9  Edited By smokemare

I finally managed to trade it in this weekend having finished the campaign on the normal difficulty setting.
 
I've found it such a chore to play, at times it's cringeworthy to even watch, the motion sickness was crippling, the story poor and uninteresting, the gameplay not much better... I actually think some of the earlier aborted games showcased in the history section of the special features looked more fun.
 
So is my love of gaming revived? 
 
No... Not quite.  I can't really be bothered to attack LA Noire at the moment, I guess I'll try later... When I went to Trade-in I thought ah, Dukes only a few weeks old, bit of a blockbuster - must be worth £15 at least £10 so I took my £15 game gift voucher, and DNF, and picked up a Sonic Title my little girl wanted to play, and Dungeon Seige 3 because a break from FPS might be just the ticket - particularly if that ticket is swords and sorcery RPG.
 
I get to the counter and ask the bearded git behind the counter what I get for DNF... The answer?  A paltry £5... A fiver... For a 3 month old £40 blockbuster.  Now it's a while since I traded anything in - I used to think CEX were best, then Gamestation and Game last - this was at Game.   The trouble is I really couldn't be bothered to go trapsing around trying to find a better price, and I wanted to use my game gift card, so I put Dungeon Seige 3 back, as I still have LA Noire and can't even be bothered to play that - and got the Sonic game my 4 year old wanted.
 
I mean is £5 fair?  Is that the current norm?  Have I been stitched?  I expected GAME to be a bit low on the trade in values, but a fiver ?!  If playing the stupid game hadn't been such a collectively painful yet pointless exercise I would have kept it... I almost kept it to use as a cup coaster, I have no intention of playing it again...
 
What I think I'd like to see, (It might exist, I will have to check next time I want to trade in.) is a website where you type in the title and the platform and it tells you what all the various trade in values are - so you know where to go to get the best price.  It might not have helped me on this occasion, but I tend to find trade-ins are generally dissapointing, I don't think I've ever walked away thinking I got a fair deal.  I could have sold it on Ebay I suppose - but I didn't fancy the hassle...
 
Anyway - so yeah, I have LA Noire to play, and some Token 3D Sonic Game, I didn't pay much attention to it - it was what my 4 year old little girl wanted, (She loves Sonic, she was in tears when I executed an epic fail at winning her a cuddly shadow the fox at the Alton Towers crockery smash.) I booted it up and it already seems more fun than DNF... It's just a pity my cowardly 4 year old is terrified of it.  It is a PEGI 12, but I have no idea why... And I can't imagine what she saw that worried her - I guess the minds of 4 year olds are as mysterious as the minds of the people who work out trade-in prices on games :P

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smokemare

329

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#10  Edited By smokemare
@Vegsen said:
Based on what you like to do: Star Wars The Old Republic will bring you back to the gaming side of life.
Interestingly no, I played SWG and recently spent some time on SWGEMU, great fun, but I think, and this is part of the problem, I simply don't have the time to invest in a game like that anymore.  I struggle to get 5 hours a week of gaming in just now - and the fact is it isn't really enough.  I will play again, I might even drop back to Red Dead Red, to wrap up some achievements and enjoy the environment again.  At the moment I've GOT to get over the motion sickeness and finish off Duke, I'm in the Generator Room vs the Octaking, but....