RANT: Holy heck - I have a new addiction.

[amdhunter]

--- Starting blog.anandtech.com ---

About 2 months ago, if you asked me why I don't have a 360 or PS3, I would have said plain and simple -- they suck. I had ZERO interest in console gaming and didn't really care to hear otherwise.

PC gaming was where it was at for me. I bought an 8800GT, and then upgraded to a 4870 and have played --- 0 games! All I ever did was run through portal over and over when I was bored. What a freaking waste of money that was. I also upgraded to a Q6600, which is useful for other things, but the main purpose was to game. There is nothing out for the PC that I want to play.

So then I saw a commercial. Squaresoft published a game for the 360! Being the huge jRPG fan that I am, I finally convinced myself to go out and buy an XBOX... That was the worst decision I have ever made.

The system was great! But there was one problem, my damned HDTV was in the living room, and I spend all my time in my room. So to fix that I bought a nice little Samsung T240HD, I even got a Costco membership because I wanted that particular model so bad.

OK, I figured I would stop there, but I didnt.

Since then, I've bought:
Tales of Vesperia (only game I have finished so far.)
Madden 09
GTA 4 (stupid controller makes this kind of hard for me)
Fable (not starting it until I finish Infinite Undiscovery.)
A chatpad for 360 controller since I was on the 360 for so long.

Oh yeah, I also got on that 15% off a PS3 deal at Dell ($339 w00t) and bought one of those too...along with:

Little Big Planet - (Sort of meh so far, but I only played through the tutorial level.)
GT5 Prologue (In less than an hour, I finished Class C and owned an R8...lol)
Metal Gear Solid 4 - (I AM NOT OPENING THIS TILL THE WEEKEND. I need to finish Infinite Undiscovery first. )

Someone help me. I am going to buy Eternal Sonata for PS3 very soon. (Kinda sucks that it's only 720p on the PS though.)

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Someone help me. I am going to buy Eternal Sonata for PS3 very soon. (Kinda sucks that it's only 720p on the PS though.)

Nope, sorry, you're on your own buddy. Although I did play the Eternal Sonata demo on the PS3, and was kinda impressed by the battle mechanics and especially the graphics. I loved the style.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Someone help me. I am going to buy Eternal Sonata for PS3 very soon. (Kinda sucks that it's only 720p on the PS though.)

Nope, sorry, you're on your own buddy. Although I did play the Eternal Sonata demo on the PS3, and was kinda impressed by the battle mechanics and especially the graphics. I loved the style.

You know what's funny. It controls way better with the PS3 controller, than the 360 controller. Also, the PS3 graphics dont have that "smooth stutter blurryish" effect that appears on the 360 version. Could be that the 360 is running at 1080p though.

 

[AstroManLuca]

If your 360 is outputting at 1080p then it is upscaling. There is only one 360 game that is actually rendered in 1080p, and it's some dumb little XBLA game.

Also, maybe a little too late for this, but the 360 supports regular USB keyboards, so you don't have to buy the chatpad if you want quick text entry.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
You know what's funny. It controls way better with the PS3 controller, than the 360 controller. Also, the PS3 graphics dont have that "smooth stutter blurryish" effect that appears on the 360 version. Could be that the 360 is running at 1080p though.

360 version is 720p.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I experienced this briefly when I bought all three consoles after they launched. Then I lost some work and promptly went broke and limped back to my pc after selling the consoles.

 

[nakedfrog]

I will be glad to help you by purchasing your old games at a steep discount once you're finished with them

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
If your 360 is outputting at 1080p then it is upscaling. There is only one 360 game that is actually rendered in 1080p, and it's some dumb little XBLA game.

Also, maybe a little too late for this, but the 360 supports regular USB keyboards, so you don't have to buy the chatpad if you want quick text entry.

Yeah, I had a wireless keyboard for a little bit, but I didn't like having a bulky keyboard on my bed. The chatpad works fine.

Can the PS3 connect to messenger at all (I am sure it's NO)

Heh, as for the 1080 thing, now I don't feel bad about getting the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata. (I want the more levels + characters anyway.)

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
I experienced this briefly when I bought all three consoles after they launched. Then I lost some work and promptly went broke and limped back to my pc after selling the consoles.

Man, I am going to have them all. There are a ton of jRPG's coming out on the PS3 that I do not want to miss. Yeah, they are years away...but still.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I will be glad to help you by purchasing your old games at a steep discount once you're finished with them

Yeah, too bad there aren't any Paypal alternatives out there. I cancelled my paypal after my sister got scammed for like 30 dollars. Once everyone in FS/FT go with Google checkout, then I may start selling things off there.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Agreed amdhunter, my next purchase (probably next year) will be a PS3 for white knight story and MGS4.

 

[Baked]

Great choices on the PS3 games. LBP, MGS4, and GT5 P are full of wins. Check out PSN games too, there are a number of must haves for cheap on there. WipEout HD, PixelJunk Monsters, Bionic Commando Rearmed to name a few.

 

[DaveSimmons]

There is nothing out for the PC that I want to play

Mass Effect and Fallout 3 are better on the PC, especially since you have (had?) a 4870.

Fallout 3 running smoothly at 1600x1200 was very nice in the couple of hours I played last night.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Same here Dave. I was expecting it to be a hog at high settings but it's running smooth like butter on a hot biscuit.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

There is nothing out for the PC that I want to play

Mass Effect and Fallout 3 are better on the PC, especially since you have (had?) a 4870.

Fallout 3 running smoothly at 1600x1200 was very nice in the couple of hours I played last night.

Mass Effect was awesome. I forgot I played that. Oh well, I got one game on my 8800GT. Still nothing since I got my 4870 though.

I was never a fan of the Fallout series, is there a demo out?

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: Baked
Great choices on the PS3 games. LBP, MGS4, and GT5 P are full of wins. Check out PSN games too, there are a number of must haves for cheap on there. WipEout HD, PixelJunk Monsters, Bionic Commando Rearmed to name a few.

Stop it. My wallet can't take it anymore. I've already spent more than a weeks pay on all of these toys.

BTW -- Puzzle Fighter HD and Pac-Man CE are my favs on 360. :thumbsup:

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Agreed amdhunter, my next purchase (probably next year) will be a PS3 for white knight story and MGS4.

Yeah, White Knight looks nice.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

There is nothing out for the PC that I want to play

Mass Effect and Fallout 3 are better on the PC, especially since you have (had?) a 4870.

Fallout 3 running smoothly at 1600x1200 was very nice in the couple of hours I played last night.

Mass Effect was awesome. I forgot I played that. Oh well, I got one game on my 8800GT. Still nothing since I got my 4870 though.

I was never a fan of the Fallout series, is there a demo out?

No demo. The game is a lot like Oblivion (same developer), if you've ever played that. And it's not that different from Mass Effect (both are pretty standard western RPGs).

Gameplay is first person perspective with the option to pause and target the enemy's limbs and head.

Story narrative is weak compared to JRPGs, but the gameplay is much stronger (I've never liked JRPGs because they feel like being in an interactive movie, with very thin gameplay).

 

[Dorkenstein]

There is no Fallout demo, pretty sure.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The Ratchet & Clank demo for PS3 was great, I plan to get that one after I finish R & C Going Commando (PS2, won't play on newer PS3s )

> Fallout demo?
Nope. But see Warcrow's review ( review ) and/or think of it as "Oblivion with guns"

 

[Dorkenstein]

The story that I have experienced so far seems pretty good, you're right, not quite at JRPG complexity though. It's also a completely open world after escape, so story might suffer there too.

 

[amdhunter]

lol, I've never played any of the Oblivion games either. :laugh:

 

[AstroManLuca]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
lol, I've never played any of the Oblivion games either. :laugh:

The series name is "The Elder Scrolls." Oblivion is the most recent installment. Previous one was Morrowind.

That series, as well as Fallout 3, are similar to Mass Effect, but they have more open-ended exploration you can do. Mass Effect always felt "on rails" to me (not as much as KOTOR, but nothing like the wide open world of Oblivion or Fallout 3).

 

[Dacalo]

Don't forget Valkyria Chronicles, coming out like in 4 days

 

[BadRobot]

Littlebigplanet,

you need to play the first 3 or 4 levels and you will be hooked. The introduction level isn't really a level at all...its more like "hey this is how you move and I'm here to set your expectations low so that when you play the next 4 levels you are even more impressed"