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So, I got a part-time job as a video game blogger...

It seems like your criticisms boil down to "it's too hard." If it was meant to be easy, it would have been! You could argue that it's disproportionately hard, though, compared to the rest of the game.
 
Robert Maxwell said:
It seems like your criticisms boil down to "it's too hard." If it was meant to be easy, it would have been! You could argue that it's disproportionately hard, though, compared to the rest of the game.
Click to expand...

No, the game wasn't too hard. I just wish the 3 things I mentioned were handled better.

Also, I've got yet another for you. This one's a short editorial about House of the Dead: Overkill having more cussin' than any game in history.

http://www.examiner.com/x-4256-New-Orleans-Video-Game-Examiner~y2009m3d16-House-of-the-Dead-Overkill-wins-Guinness-World-Record-for-most-swearing-in-a-game
 
I dug the PS3 article.

I also think the PS3, in addition to all your points, suffered from the amazing success and longevity of the PS2.

I suppose there is a potential silver lining for Sony: no one has yet managed to fill the shoes of the PS2. They should scrap whatever is in the works, start diminishing the PS3 marketing, and make a PS4 that is essentially a circa 2009 PS2. Why mess with a winning formula?

I can upgrade my PC for the cost of an XBox360, and pretty much crush the XBox. The niche remains. Nintendo Wii could take it, but Nintendo never seems to have gotten the game development down like Sony did with the PS2-era. Nintendo always seems more kiddie-oriented.
 
CaptainStoner said:
I dug the PS3 article.

I also think the PS3, in addition to all your points, suffered from the amazing success and longevity of the PS2.

I suppose there is a potential silver lining for Sony: no one has yet managed to fill the shoes of the PS2. They should scrap whatever is in the works, start diminishing the PS3 marketing, and make a PS4 that is essentially a circa 2009 PS2. Why mess with a winning formula?

I can upgrade my PC for the cost of an XBox360, and pretty much crush the XBox. The niche remains. Nintendo Wii could take it, but Nintendo never seems to have gotten the game development down like Sony did with the PS2-era. Nintendo always seems more kiddie-oriented.
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Nintendo focuses on kids as much as they do because that has always been their largest demographic. They're changing now that their fanbase has grown up and want more mature games. Sony's #1 problem is the cost. If not for that, they'd be making money. They shouldn't have tried to throw in everything and the kitchen sink.

Also, it turns out there's a Star Trek examiner too. So far, I think I ought to have this guy's job too. I read his first article and just had to correct some of the minutiae he got wrong. Damn it feels good to be a nerdy gangsta.
 
Robert Maxwell said:
Nice list! My game collection is here although it's all PC games. :)
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Oh, you have to post pictures and show me up, huh? :p Also, Alice is being remade in the near future.

Finally, I made a few additions to my list yesterday...

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA)
Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (NGB)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (NGB)

I picked up a dirt-cheap copy of Metroid Prime for my best friend too.

There might be more additions (and a few potential subtractions) in the near future.
 
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According to your list Robert, you have Sonic CD in your PC game collection. You wouldn't happen to have a copy of the DINO2D.DLL file it requires, would you? I've searched for that online for ages and never did find a copy of it anywhere.
 
The versions of DMIX.DLL and DINO2D.DLL that come with Sonic CD are not compatible with later versions of DirectX.

That said, I did find more recent versions which should, in theory, work.

DINO2D.DLL
DMIX.DLL
 
I have an idea for an editorial piece but, I want to run it by all of you first. This is only a rough draft and it is not complete.

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How to screw-up a guaranteed money maker

For this particular editorial piece, I am going to be criticizing Sega. Normally, I wouldn't criticize them because they gave me the Genesis, Sonic the Hedgehog and an uncensored home version of Mortal Kombat. One might even call that a 'Holy trinity' of classic gaming, if one were so inclined. However, I'm still compelled to let my poison pen fly. Why? Because of the port for Sonic the Hedgehog to the Game Boy Advance, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis. Why was this guaranteed money-maker a bust? I'll tell you...

The music is off-key and sounds completely different at times.

This is especially true for the Marble Zone. It sounds like a choppy MIDI version made by a struggling digital musician who also happens to be a Sonic fan. Some of the sound effects are missing too.

The animations are choppy at times.

Some of them (like when Sonic breaks through rock formations in the Green Hill Zone) just aren't there! The blocks disappear but, they don't break away like they did in the Genesis original. What the Hell? I loved that animation! It made Sonic look powerful. This choppiness is also affecting the game in such a way that I'm not always sure about my jumps. I can't tell you how many times I landed on spikes or rocketed right into an enemy when bouncing on a spring because of this choppiness.

The game runs slow!!!

Did you read what I just wrote? Sonic the Hedgehog is moving slow! I never thought I'd live to see the day where I'd say or write something like that, Sega. In any other case, it would be logically fallacious. This is what grieves me the most about this cartridge. Sonic the Hedgehog does not move slow! It was so bad that I just gave up by the time I got to Act 3 of the Labyrinth Zone. I don't believe I managed to even get one solitary Chaos Emerald all the times I've played this cartridge, either.

This cartridge makes me feel like I wasted $20 in it's purchase. That's not a feeling that any gamer should ever have, Sega. I know you can do better than this too. Like Michael said to Fredo in the Cuban New Year's scene from The Godfather Part II, You broke my Heart. You broke my Heart!

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So, is it too scathing or is it right on the mark? I do intend to add a potential solution to this criticism, like I always do for any form of written analysis I write.
 
I think you might try to balance it out a bit. Why is it slow? There are probably technical reasons for that. The GBA may not be able to blit as quickly as a Genesis could. I guess that's irrelevant, since you just want to play a good game. But I doubt these problems were created on purpose.
 
Robert Maxwell said:
I think you might try to balance it out a bit. Why is it slow? There are probably technical reasons for that. The GBA may not be able to blit as quickly as a Genesis could. I guess that's irrelevant, since you just want to play a good game. But I doubt these problems were created on purpose.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, it will be balanced by the time it's done.

In the meantime, I have a new story about the Fallout 3 expansion pack, The Pitt

http://www.examiner.com/x-4256-New-Orleans-Video-Game-Examiner~y2009m3d24-Fallout-3-expansion-pack-The-Pitt
 
Sounds alright... must all be in the execution, though, since the storyline is nothing new. I haven't played Fallout 3 yet, but hopefully I will get to, someday. Big fan of the first two games, here.
 
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